Dovey's deliberations

James Sings the Presidents and Sweet Pictures with Jack

2009-02-20T07:21:00.000-08:00

I cannot take credit for the song. A very creative friend of mine adapted this from the internet, and I shamelessly stole it for James' education! He's enjoyed learning it, and I enjoy knowing the presidents in order now also!

She thinks he's so sweet and loves to hold him.

Jefferson always calls him "my baby" and if anyone else says that he's "their baby", a heated argument ensues!

Oldest and youngest.

Thankful Thursday -- Little Jack

2008-10-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

*Edit* I wrote this over a month ago, but was never able to get the picture uploaded. Anyway, I just wanted this to be published before Jack actually arrived!

This week, I've been rather reflective and it's made me appreciate my pregnancy even more. That's not very hard for me to do because I love being pregnant! I always have. I love maternity clothes, not worrying about my figure, feeling the baby move, counting down the days, everything! But this week it's been even more special to me. You see, a year ago this month, we lost our fourth baby.

It was a very traumatic time. Since we knew from the beginning that there were issues with the pregnancy, the actual loss was not a surprise. We had to wait around for it to happen though. And, of course, Ryan was out of town at the time, and it hit in a big way! I won't go into details now, but it was one of those momentous life events that I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Then it took us five months to conceive, and I was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with me that caused me to miscarry and then not conceive. But here I am, almost 34 weeks (tomorrow), and little Jack's going to be here very soon.

We've made Jack a part of our lives already, as we have for all of the children. James was not surprised when Evelyn came and they both wondered why we made such a big deal out of Jefferson's birth. After all, we had been speaking of him as being here all along!

We've made the little changes that are necessary -- moving Jefferson's car seat in the van to make room for Jack's, moving Jefferson into James' room next week, etc. But we talk about him all the time. In fact, Jefferson thinks Jack's going to come out playing "baw" (ball)!

I usually want my Thankful Thursday posts to be about everyday happenings -- to find the joy in the mundane and the everyday, but today's post is a little more profound, and we're excited! Only 5 weeks left! (At least, that's our prediction!)

Task List

2008-10-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

I need some accountability so I'm counting on some from you, my blog (and facebook) readers! Here is my list that needs to be accomplished before Jack arrives. (Okay, I know that it won't all get done, but I need as much of it done as possible.)

Clean out all closets -- James, Jefferson, ~~Evelyn~~, Master, 3 hall closets

Paint Evelyn's bedroom

Work on budget

Homeschool Schedule (for 1st 3 months)

Organize and clean out pantry

Clear off the island and rearrange office supplies that are on top

Get out baby clothes

Put clothes back in attic (this is a major task--you have no idea!)

Clean the master bedroom thoroughly

I'm sure that more tasks will be added, but I am looking forward to seeing lines through many of these tasks.

Goals for this week:

Paint Evelyn's bedroom (technically Ryan's job)

Organize and clean out pantry

Clean out James' closet

Thankful Thursday -- Jefferson

2008-10-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks, I've been very aware of just how special Jefferson is.

Last week, we were doing some pretty intensive potty-training sessions, and, at times, I was about to lose my mind. In just one morning, he wet 5 times on the kitchen floor and had one bm on the kitchen floor as well. Nothing in the potty seat! Ahhhhhhhhh! We've taken a little more relaxed approach for this past week.

When I was cooking for him last week and bringing him his food, he grinned at me, and I was overwhelmed by love. He is a lot of work, but he is such a blessing to us as well. I was reminded of what happened a little over a year ago.

I was eating a banana and offering him some of it. He took too big a bite and it became lodged in his throat. After turning him upside down and beating him and then trying to reach my fingers down to pull it up (not a good idea), I screamed for Ryan, who was working from home that day, to get downstairs. He did the heimlich on Jefferson, and it was just enough to dislodge the banana and allow him to swallow it. During that time though, Jefferson had turned blue, his eyes were wide with terror, before rolling back into his head, and he had blood all over his mouth, probably due to my digging in his throat. It's still hard for me to write this and remember it.

With all his disorders/developmental struggles, he struggles with chewing and swallowing. It's not that he can't, it's that he needs to exercise his tongue and jaw more than others and it's not easy for him, so he just swallows food whole. So we get a lot of choking and gagging. Every time he chokes or gags, my heart speeds up and jumps in my throat and I start yelling, "Chew it up, Jefferson. Chew!" Most of the time he will.

This past Tuesday however, he had put so much chicken in his mouth, that he couldn't chew. And, apparently, he doesn't know how to spit it out either. I tried that. Finally I reached in to start pulling out the chicken in front, and then he started throwing it up. He choked, gagged and coughed for about the next 10 minutes, trying to clear his airways. I sat in the rocking chair, holding him and crying -- again.

He is a joy. He is lively and happy. He loves people. He loves his siblings, and he loves his mom and dad. He loves talking on the phone (even though nobody knows what he's saying). Cooking for him is often worse than cooking for the rest of our family, and I cook almost entirely from scratch, so that's saying a lot. But none of us can imagine life without him.

So for this week, I'm so thankful that the Lord has given us Jefferson. He is truly a special gift from God.

Our little daredevil

2008-10-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my parents came down on Dad's Harley to visit for the weekend. Evelyn has been wanting a ride on the motorcycle, but my Dad's been really hesitant for safety reasons. Apparently, Evelyn's begging must have worn him down because he finally consented. Watch the video to see how she enjoyed it!

Soccer and Gymnastics

2008-10-02T19:30:00.001-07:00

BLING!

2008-10-02T19:29:00.001-07:00

Thankful Thursday -- Teaching Kids to Work

2008-10-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

This will be a different Thankful Thursday post. For the last few weeks, I've been working with the children on learning some new jobs and on further mastering the ones they already know. As all of you moms know, this takes incredible patience -- something that I am not known for! This teaching process has made me realize how very much I have to be thankful for.

1) That I have children to teach. There are many people out there, friends that I have, who would love to have children, yet the Lord has not blessed them with any. How often do I complain throughout the daily grind about the ones that I have?

2) That I am able to teach them. This is a multi-faceted one. I am thirty-one weeks pregnant. Many who are at this stage are unable to function on a daily basis because of prescribed bed rest, sickness, tiredness, etc. I am not struggling with these. I have much to be thankful for. Also, ignoring the pregnancy, I am thankful to have my health. With the heart issue that I've had, I've had plenty of opportunity to reflect upon what it could be like. Even though I'd like an occasional break, I wouldn't want to be forced to take it easy all the time or limit my activity. I'm thankful that I'm able to stay home. I wouldn't have any of the time to teach them these skills that I believe are necessary if I wasn't home all day with them. Again, there can be frustrations, but there are frustrations at outside jobs as well. I love being home with my children!

3) That they are able to learn. There was a time when we seriously wondered about Jefferson's health and whether he would be impaired. The Lord has been very, very good to us. All of our children are extremely healthy, are able to work, are able to understand and have the energy and excitement that is necessary in working together as a family.

4) That they're tender-hearted. They are willing to work. Even though they may complain (trust me, they do!), when we explain the reasons that we are having them learn these skills, they jump in with both feet and we all have a good time working together as a family.

For anyone who's interested, here are some of the skills that they are learning/have learned:

James -- make his bed, empty the trash, empty the dishwasher, fold towels, learning to fold the large bath towels, peel carrots and potatoes, help me cook asparagus for Jefferson (see picture), spread butter on toast, set the table, clean up both his toys and sibling's toys if asked, load the washer, transfer to the dryer, fold his own clothes and put them away, help me fold Jefferson's clothes, sweep the kitchen floor after meals, rinse his own dishes after every meal and put them in the dishwasher.

Evelyn -- make her bed, put the silverware away, fold washcloths, dust cloths and hand towels, throw cut up veggies in soups or casseroles, set the table, clean up her toys and sibling's toys when asked, help James load the washer and transfer to the dryer, fold most of her own clothes and put them away, use the dustpan to clean the piles that James swept up, rinse her own dishes after every meal and put them in the dishwasher.

Jefferson -- picking up his own toys and helping pick up sibling's toys when asked. He's also learning to put books away. He loves to be with me all the time, so he's constantly observing and trying new things. It will be quite interesting to see what he ends up learning just by observing!

Thankful Thursday -- Teamwork and Learning from Nature

2008-09-27T07:08:00.000-07:00

Well, since I obviously have not updated for quite awhile, I'll give you two for the price of one!

A few weeks ago, Jefferson started having nasty diapers. I could not pinpoint the source for awhile, but I think that I have it nailed down now! His two-year molars are coming in! Unfortunately, I think it's going to be awhile before they are completely in. We've been struggling with respiratory problems and diaper problems for about three weeks now, and I've been rather perplexed as to the cause. Now I know and knowing is half the battle! (Okay, I've just dated myself. Don't worry if you don't get it!)

Back to Thankful Thursday, we were about five minutes from leaving for Evelyn's tumbling class, and Jefferson walks out of the playroom, holding his diaper and saying, "Uck, Mama, uck." That's never what a Mom wants to hear, especially when I looked at him and saw that many brown things were dripping out as he was walking toward me! Can we say panic mode?

I grabbed him and started yelling for the kids to come to me in the kitchen without stepping through the mess that was made. I had no idea how far back the mess extended. Since the kitchen floor is easily cleaned (more easily than carpet), I decided that was the ideal place to change him.

Here's where teamwork fit in. I asked James to walk carefully out to the van and get his diaper bag and then go upstairs and get the refill bag of wipes. (I knew there were not enough wipes in the diaper bag to deal with this mess!) I asked James to hand Evelyn the wipes and asked him to go get a bag to put all of the garbage in. Then I got to work.

I cleaned up Jefferson with Evelyn handing me wipe after wipe and James dutifully holding out "the bag" as I kept taking from Evelyn and giving to James. It really was cleaned up in record time. James took "the bag" out to the trash. I then (carefully) took the kids out to the van and then I came back in and cleaned the carpet before we left. The mess did extend into the playroom. With all of that, we were only 15 minutes late to tumbling! What teamwork!

Now, for the Learning from Nature. We have been reading Bible Animals and the Lessons Taught by them for Children during our homeschool Bible time. Richard Newton was called the prince of preachers for children and, I have to say, this book has been a hit with the kids! In each lesson, we look at a particular animal and a story is told about that animal which is then applied to our own lives.

Last week, I was listening to this podcast about family worship. In it, the question was asked about what to do if you failed. The answer was given that the godly man falleth seven times and riseth again (Proverbs 24:16). James was sitting at the table, watching a beetle in a jar that we'd collected for nature study. This beetle kept trying to climb up the side of the jar and failed every time. The beetle was not to be defeated. He kept trying and trying and trying. James said, "It sounds like that man (on the podcast) is saying, 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.' That's exactly what this poor beetle is doing. Could we please let it go, Mommy?"

I laughed and laughed but was pleased that James was picking up on the concept that all of God's creation brings glory to His name and that we can learn, from His creatures, principles that we are to follow.

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise" -- Proverbs 6:6

Homeschool Report Card: Week 1

2008-09-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

This past Friday we finished up our first week of homeschooling. We had actually started the previous Thursday with the intent of covering five days worth of material in seven! We added several new adventures this past week, including James' soccer and Evelyn's tumbling class. Both are big hits -- thankfully! We were a little worried about the soccer.

I didn't accomplish everything that I wanted (do I ever?), but we accomplished quite a bit, and I've been excited to see both James' and Evelyn's enthusiasm. We are following the Charlotte Mason method, give or take, and I'm adding in other things that I feel are important to include. I would like to give an update each week on what we accomplish, and also, as time allows, give you some insight into each subject that we're covering and how we do it.

Two subjects that we've added this year are art (which I despise -- sorry for those of you artists who are reading this) and nature study (which I have a hard time being excited about). Technically, the nature study is science, but we've added in another science curriculum as well. This is really a sacrifice on my part because I don't like the outdoors very much, and I've never enjoyed science. However, James LOVED our science program last year and enjoyed doing the experiments and so I ordered the next level up. So far, it's a big hit, even with Evelyn. We finished the first science book and she reads it during her nap/rest time!

With nature study, all that we've done so far is collect insects and identify them with field guides that I purchased, and I also had James do a drawing of a dead grasshopper that we found. He did better at the drawing than I had thought, so that was a pleasant surprise.

We're studying one artist per term (3 a year), and our current artist is Botticelli. I've had to be somewhat selective in what he views since there is some nudity, but they've both enjoyed this study as well. (As you might be able to tell, Evelyn sits in on a lot of school!) So far, their favorite picture is Mars and Venus. James thinks the fauns wearing Mars' armor and sneaking up to scare him while he's sleeping is hilarious! (Do you think he's done some of that himself?) Evelyn even knew what the pesky little fauns were from our listening of The Chronicles of Narnia! I was really surprised that she knew just from looking at them what they were.

Since I despise art (I really do), I opted for a fairly easy art curriculum this year. I have some desire to read Drawing with Children (recommended by Catherine), but I'm not sure I'm ready for it. ARTistic Pursuits teaches the children to observe and then create their own art using different materials that are recommended for them. I purchased this at the homeschool convention and it came with all the materials needed (bonus for me!). His first drawing was to be of something that he observed recently in the course of a day. He's not a great artist (neither am I), but he did well, and he didn't complain. He drew a trip that we made to McAlister's Deli. My favorite part of it is Jack peeking out of my belly! Ryan looked at it and said that James would be a good storyboarder. (Don't worry. I didn't know what that was either.)
Oh, and in case you wondered what Evelyn and Jefferson do during school time, I'll show you a couple of pictures. I've put together some boxes of toys/crafts for them to do and one of them is a water box (it will probably change to a beans/rice box for winter). Thanks, Elizabeth! These pictures are when James finished and he went outside to join in the fun!

So there's my update for this past week. Hopefully, I'll be able to post a little more frequently this week, but no promises!

Thankful Thursday -- child-like faith

2008-09-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

This week, I am thankful for my children because of what they teach me. Two nights ago, I was reminded of the sweet things that children have to teach us. Evelyn woke up crying and petrified at 1:40 in the morning. As I went running into her room, I was scared myself. We've been dealing with sickness in our household. I had placed a vaporizer in her room that evening hoping to help with her coughing and congestion. With Evelyn, there's no telling what had happened.

As I entered, she was sitting in bed, still covered with her blanket but with tears streaming down her face. She told me that she was scared of the dark. She's never mentioned this before, so I thought it was odd. Then I pointed out that she had not only a nightlight but also the light from the vaporizer. I told her that she knew what was in her room during the day and that that had not changed because the sun had gone down. Then we reviewed Psalm 56:3 -- When I am afraid, I will trust in thee. The children have really enjoyed the dvd's Hide 'Em in Your Heart and one of the videos is about a girl and her brother in the midst of a thunderstorm. They read their Bible and pray and then drop back off to sleep. The song is Psalm 56:3, and the kids enjoy singing it. So, Evelyn and I sang it and then we prayed. She went immediately back to sleep, almost before I had left the room. The next morning, I asked if she remembered waking up and what we talked about. She did, and she gave me a big hug and rewarded me with a winning smile!

I have been listening to an apologetic for reading the Chronicles of Narnia by R.C. Sproul, Jr. He points out in Prince Caspian how Lucy is the only one who can see Aslan. He also refers back to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the fact of Lucy's trust in Aslan. He also mentions the professor's faith in Narnia. One aspect that he brought out in his analysis is that there are not two kinds of faith -- child-like and mature. Many people act as if child-like faith is fine for children, but then we mature and we need a more logical, carefully-thought-out faith. Matthew 18:3 -- Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Do I see things as simply as Evelyn did? When I struggle with trouble or problems or worry, do I cast all my cares upon Him because He cares for me? (I Peter 5:7) Is it enough to read the Bible and trust God for His will because His Word is truth? (John 17:17) I pray that God would help me to have a child-like trust in His sovereignty and His goodness to His people, knowing that "all things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Thankful Thursday -- Working Together

2008-09-04T13:08:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm sorry that I skipped my Thankful Thursday post last week. We were on vacation in beautiful Ludington, MI. The weather was perfect and a great time was had by all. Hopefully, I'll get a few pictures posted on my blog soon. If you're a facebook friend, just check out my album! Since we vacationed with my parents, sister and two nieces, time wasn't available for blogging or doing much else than the beach, ice cream parlor, eating and managing children! Poor us, huh?

On to Thankful Thursday.

One thing that has been wonderful to watch in my children is that they are learning to work together. I think this is a blessing that homeschooling affords in a very special way. Just this morning, as I came downstairs from helping Evelyn get ready, James called to me, "Look, Mommy! Jefferson's helping me with the dishwasher!" I was so thrilled that James took the time to include Jefferson in his chores. Jefferson loves to help, and James would point to a cupboard/drawer and ask Jefferson to open it/close it. Jefferson was so happy to help his big brother! In fact, one time, James asked him to close a cupboard and Jefferson shook his head and pointed to another item in the dishwasher that belonged in the cupboard. James said, "Oh, wow! Good job, Jefferson! You're right!" Jefferson just beams when his brother praises him like that.

Almost every day, James asks if he can get the mail for me. It's a favorite job of his. About a year ago, he began to hold Evelyn's hand as they crossed the street together to the mailbox. Just this past summer, Jefferson joined the crew and now all three of my children get my mail for me! James distributes the mail and they each hold something as they come back across the street. (Don't worry. I'm always watching from my front door for safety's sake.) My neighbor who has a two-month old watched this one day and commented that he looked forward to the day when his son could do that. It is a joy to watch.

The week before vacation, Ryan trimmed the hedges. He was unable to clean up the debris that fell as we were in a hurry. So he asked me to have the children clean it up. While this task did not go without bumps ("Mommy, he's not holding the bag wide enough!", "Mommy, she's playing and not working!", Mommy, he just spilled it all!"), training was being done and, in the end, the job was accomplished. Through it all, they're all learning that working and working together as a family is non-negotiable.

I was reminded, sadly, of those who do not have this blessing. That's right. Even all the whining and complaining is a blessing because they're learning. Who's to say that James did not learn to encourage Jefferson this morning from cleaning up the hedges two weeks before? I was instructing them to encourage one another instead of tearing each other down. The hand-holding that is expected crossing the street also comes in handy when we're running errands and traversing large parking lots. I fully plan to put James in charge of little Jack in the umbrella stroller once Jack can sit up and hold up his head. James is looking forward to the responsibility.

But, as I was saying, I was reminded of those who do not have this blessing. This week, I had to finish calling all of my students to inform them that I am no longer teaching for an indefinite period of time. One of the parents is a single mom of an early teenager (almost 13). This mom has gone through a lot in the past year, and we've tried to help wherever possible. She was telling me that she got a new puppy this past summer, in addition to the one they got the summer before. She told me that she was crazy, but was looking forward to the puppies growing up together and watching their interaction. She told me that she was never able to enjoy watching interaction with her human children (as they're all so spread apart and other circumstances), but she was looking forward to watching her puppies grow close together.

I was so saddened by that. Here's a woman who's been through a lot in life, but was trying to recreate something in her animals that many of us get frustrated with on a daily basis -- teaching our children to interact together in a kind, loving and fun way. I want to encourage any young moms who are reading this to keep on persevering in your training efforts. It will pay off. I'm already reaping the benefits!

Conversation with Evelyn

2008-08-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

We allow the children to listen to audio books/cd's during their afternoon rest time. Evelyn has been enjoying The Wise Man Built His House during the last week or two. She is really enjoying it. This is the conversation that took place after her rest time today.

Evelyn (E): Mommy, the wise man's house stood firm.
Me (M): Yes. Why did his house stand firm?
E: It was built on a rock.
M: Who is our Rock?
E: Jesus.
M: So, if we build our lives on Jesus, will we stand firm?
E: Yes. But if we build our lives on Satan, we will be foolish.

Matthew 18:3 "And [He] said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Ryan and I praise the Lord for these evidences of grace in the lives of our children!

Learning to be like Daddy

2008-08-21T17:02:00.001-07:00

State Fair 2008 - 3

2008-08-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

We participated in "Little Hands on the Farm" where the children each get an apron and basket and gather eggs, fruit, plant vegetables, "milk" a cow, etc. to experience the goings-on of a farm.
Here's James driving his tractor.
Here's Evelyn getting some help from Nana!
We were able to watch a tiger show.
Nana and Papa graciously paid $6 per child for them to ride the elephant. They really enjoyed this and still talk about it! (We don't know the other people in the photo. They just put the kids on where they would fit.)
Jefferson taking a snooze!
James and Evelyn found a place to refresh themselves!
They were each able to ride a kiddie roller coaster.
I wish that you all could have seen Evelyn's face. She had the best time!
James was also able to go down the big slide!
Jefferson before going to church on Sunday evening. Ryan loved this shirt on James, and he likes it on Jefferson too!

Thankful Thursday--Sibling Relationships

2008-08-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

Well, time for another Thankful Thursday post. I've been grateful for these posts this week, as I've had to remind myself many times that there is much for which to be thankful. I am going to focus on Evelyn this week.

She is our energetic, loving, "wild" child! As many of you know, when a child has energy, that energy must be focused. Focusing is not a strong point of Evelyn's in any situation. So this week has been focused on trying to get her to focus!

All that said, I could never ask for a more loving, caring child than Evelyn. She is the first one to come running with band-aids and peroxide when anybody is hurt. She's the first to bring toys or to give out hugs when another sibling has been hurt physically or emotionally. But, during Ryan's trip to SC with Evelyn, we realized how deep the love between siblings runs.

During the first plane trip down, Evelyn was reading her books. Ryan overheard her say, "James, I wish you were here. I miss you." When we, as parents, often listen to their bickering, we begin to wonder if truly love each other. Ryan allowed her to call James when they arrived in SC. We laughed because they sounded like two lovers that had been separated for a long time! After they got off the phone, James told me that he wished that Evelyn would hurry up and come home because he missed her.

James and Evelyn each have other friends, but we really try to encourage the relationship between siblings. If that relationship is not solid, we discourage getting together with friends until the sibling relationship is mended. Evelyn is the first to forgive when someone's offended her, the first to initiate hugs and kisses and the first to dive back into playing or functioning as usual. This is even true when we, as parents, need to apologize to her.

So, while it's so easy to focus on the areas that need to be trained (there will always be those areas), join me in focusing on the positive traits that your children exhibit. I don't think it's easy to forgive when I've been wronged, and I hope to continue to encourage Evelyn to be quick to love and forgive and not to hold a grudge.

Related:Elizabeth posted last week on the blessing of friendship between her two boys. I thought it was quite special.

State Fair 2008 - 2

2008-08-20T14:30:00.001-07:00

Blogger doesn't seem to be letting me upload anymore pictures, so more State Fair posts will have to wait.

State Fair 2008

2008-08-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would post a few highlight pictures from our trip to the State Fair this past Saturday. We've enjoyed going for the last several years, and the kids always look forward to it, as you'll be able to see.
Jefferson pointing to some baby pigs.

The world's largest pig -- weighing in at 1121 lbs.!

The world's 2nd largest pig -- weighing in at 1113 lbs.! This one was actually standing up! I've never seen that!

James and Evelyn petting one of the Belgians. They're huge!

Evelyn really enjoyed watching the harness racing. She wanted a front seat, so she just sat in between two strangers! They didn't seem to mind.

Thankful Thursday

2008-08-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

Well, today is finally Thankful Thursday! Boy, on this little blog as well as on facebook, I've never had so many comments about any one post! I believe that my friend, Ann, is right. All moms need encouragement. When so many of us are choosing to stay home and care for our children, discouragement can so easily set in. We feel the pressure of shaping their values, training them for life, teaching them the basics (homeschooling), and we constantly wonder if we're up to the task. At least, I do.

We also desire for our children to adopt our worldview and choose to live by the standards by which we live. We yearn to see the Lord do a work in their hearts, and yet, we're fearful that we're not doing our part. Or maybe that we're doing too much and not allowing the Lord to work. I have all these fears and more, and I know that many of you do too.

Today's post is going to focus on James. James is my oldest. He is six years old. I'm starting with him because so many of you have younger children and you feel like you're in the trenches and are not seeing many results. Day in and day out you pour your time and energy into your children, and you don't see the fruit yet. I feel like that with my younger children, so this post is for me as well as for everyone else.

To start with, we've been allowing the older two children to watch the Olympics until 9:00 every night. This allows them to stay up for 30 minutes past their bedtime, and they're allowed to eat ice cream! We've chosen not to allow them to watch the commercials though because some of the content is inappropriate. We always mute the TV and engage them in conversation so that their eyes are turned towards us and away from the TV.

The last few days since my husband has been out of town, I've been juggling several tasks at once -- putting Jefferson to bed, grabbing laundry for the next day, cleaning up the kitchen, putting my piles away, etc., and I haven't always been near the TV the entire time. James loves operating gadgets (what man doesn't?), so I've taught him about the mute button and told him to keep his head turned during commercials. He may glance back every once in awhile to check if the Olympics are back on. He is also permitted to tell Evelyn what is expected of her.

Tonight, I was in the room and putting aways some school supplies for the upcoming year. A commercial came on and he pushed mute and began to talk to me. Evelyn (our challenging child!) said, "But that commercial didn't look bad." I told her that it didn't matter. She must obey what I said. Then I added, "Not all parents have this rule, but Mommy and Daddy think that it's best for you." I said that so that James was not shocked when he talked with his friends about the Olympics (or other TV viewing for that matter) and found out that they did not mute commercials and turn their own heads away. James said, "I think the way that you do it is the right way."

Those are the moments that I pray happen more often as he gets older, although I have no guarantee of that. But it is so encouraging to see him embracing our choices and way of life. I also realize that every good gift is from the Lord, and I believe that any work of grace that we see in our children's lives comes from the Lord, and we need to give Him the glory and praise for it.

James has also enjoyed writing letters to people lately. He's written two for his daddy and one for me. Catherine will recognize two of these as they were written at her house! Here they are with their interpretation below!
"Dear Daddy, Thank you that you go to work for getting money. I hope you have a good time. I love you. Goodbye."

"Dear Mommy, Thank you for staying home with us. I am so glad that you could. I love you. Goodbye."

"Dear Daddy, Thank you for going to work. Can I know who the man of the blue car is? I love you. Goodbye."

Seeing him write those notes and knowing that he feels the way he does thrills my heart! Realizing that he understands, at least in some small way, the sacrifices that we're making for him and the love that motivates our choices encourages me to continue with what we're doing. Your children will not do the same things as James, but I encourage you to look for the little things that they say either to you or to friends or relatives that indicate their understanding. Maybe you'll see that they recognize the security that you give to them, or that they embrace your standards or that they have a happiness in living their lives the way that you direct. Isn't the Lord good to allow us to see the fruit of our labors? Isn't He good to work in our children's lives? Isn't He good to take an interest in us at all? I encourage you (as well as myself) to thank the Lord for these tokens of good and ask Him to give you eyes with which to see those tokens.

Encouragement from a Stranger

2008-08-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, Evelyn was able to ride on her first airplane when she and Ryan went down to SC to attend Uncle Bevan's graduation (with his Ph.D.!) from Clemson. She had been so excited about this trip and was looking forward to some special daddy/daughter time as well.

When we arrived at the airport, there were hugs and kisses to be given all around. We opened both of the van doors, so that Jefferson could see everything that was taking place because we weren't going to get him out. Evelyn gave him a hug, a kiss and an Eskimo kiss (a ritual that we go through constantly!). Jefferson then expected the same from James! James and Evelyn went through the same ritual, and then I did the same with her but held her a bit longer for my hug. Ryan and James had to say goodbye, then I had to say goodbye to Ryan. Did I remember it all?

There was a business man waiting on a bench right behind where our rituals were taking place. He was looking on and smiling, and when I caught his eye, he smiled and said, "I'm sure that you guys know how blessed you are, don't you?" I nodded and thanked him.

For all of you reading this, most of you probably have no idea how encouraging those few words were to me. When I go out to run errands with the kids, I usually get looks of disgust, rude comments or sympathetic glances. This is not because my children are poorly behaved. They do have their moments, but, for the most part, are delightful to be around. I believe that those looks and comments are passed my way when they see that I'm obviously expecting #4. Honestly, by the way that people react to my pregnancy, one would think I'm expecting #14!

Just last week, when I was at the cardiologist, a man said to me, "When I saw you head back with those three children, I really felt sorry for you!" I told him that there was no reason to feel sorry for me because I did not feel sorry for myself. I feel blessed. And I do! At the same office, I had four or five nurses/office workers tell me how well-behaved that my children are. They told me that children usually run screaming around their offices when they come. Now I felt sorry for them!

I have realized that most people expect children to misbehave, and children always rise (or fall) to meet expectations. Again, our children are not perfect, and we've had to deal with our fair share of discipline problems when we've been out in public, but they're expected to act differently. They're expected to act with respect and concern for others. They're expected to be kind to each other. They are expected to obey their parents. Those expectations seem to solve the majority of the problems, and if they don't, effective discipline is delivered to remind them the next time that they don't meet up to expectations.

I have had people say to me, "Why in the world do you want another? You already have a boy and a girl.", or "How are you ever going to do it? I cannot manage with the one (two) that I already have.", or "Did you guys plan this one?", or "You poor thing, you're going to be so busy!" Granted, I think most people are genuinely curious about our choices or saying these things to make conversation. (It is rather obvious that I'm pregnant!) I don't believe that most people intend to be malicious, but there are a few that do.

I just think it's a sad commentary that the mantra for most people is, "A boy for me, a girl for you, and, praise the Lord, we're all through!" Do I condemn those who have only one or two children? No. Do I judge them? No. But I do expect the same respect from them regarding our choices, and, often, that respect is not given. Could it be that the expectations for children are so low that people don't find joy anymore in the very thing that the Lord calls a blessing? Sure, most people will tell us that there are moments that their children bring them immense joy, but we often hear of the more mundane frustrating moments that occur on a daily basis. Is child rearing hard work? Most definitely. Do the rewards far outweigh the time spent? Most emphatically!

I've been doing a lot of thinking on this for the past several weeks (since I've been receiving a lot of comments from people), and I'm going to start doing a series of posts on what I'm thankful for with our children. I'm going to label it as Thankful Thursdays and it's going to be geared completely towards my relationships, observations and attitudes about my own children. I'm hoping that it will encourage other friends and relatives who have younger children that there is a time just around the corner when the older ones can help out immensely. I'm hoping that it will encourage me to keep track of all of those "little moments" and realize what a treasure I have with me everyday. (Yes, there are times that I forget as well!) I do not want to "despise the day of small things." I'm hoping that it will encourage my children to "continue in the things that they have learned." (James reads my blog after every entry!)

I'm aware that I tried a weekly series almost a year ago that flopped, but I really want this one to survive. I think it's extremely important for our own family to remember and rejoice in the progress that our children are making and to cherish the treasures that we've been given. I may be a day late or miss a post here and there, but my desire is to post weekly and share a specific way that our children have blessed and encouraged us or others.

I'll see you back on Thursday!

P.S. When you see another mother, offer her a word of encouragement or just a smile. Those small words or gestures go a long way towards making someone's day!

A Little Sibling Rivalry?

2008-08-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

We've always struggled with getting James to do physical activity. He is an intellectual who is content to sit and read -- for the most part. Even yesterday, when I went outside to play ball with him, he quit after 5 minutes, went and got a chair and sat in the driveway. I laughed and told him that he didn't get to do that until he's a daddy!

Pumping on the swings is one of those things that he refuses to do. He gets quite upset with us when we try to encourage him to do it. I think we've given up.

A few weeks ago, Evelyn learned how to pump on the horse swing, and she's really enjoyed it. She goes really high, and it's very relaxing to her. We can tell because she goes out to the swings to calm down and rest.

Well, look who decided to start pumping on the regular swing on Tuesday?

When I made a big deal about it and took pictures and praised her up and down, James decided to try it. No success yet, but it's a step in the right direction!

A little sibling rivalry is good, don't you think?

Free Books Again!

2008-08-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to post on my finds from last week's Half-Price Books trip. I was really excited! On my last post, Crystal recommended Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. We've loved Chanticleer and the Fox, so imagined my surprise when I found Miss Rumphius in the clearance section! The clearance section is not organized at all, so it's clearly providential when one finds a great buy. All of the clearance books are marked at $1 though!

Here's what we snagged:

Miss Rumphius for $1

Clara Barton: Angel of the Battlefield for $1

Wilbur and Orville Wright (Childhood of Famous Americans Series) for $1

Abigail Takes the Wheel for $1.98

Henry and Mudge: The First Book for $1.98

George Washington: Our First President for $1.98

Okay, you caught me! I did spend $3 out of pocket, but I was extremely proud of several of the buys. Miss Rumphius was a recommendation from a respected friend (and it's a really great book). James has really been enjoying biographies of famous early Americans, so I bought those with homeschool in mind. The George Washington is an early reader, so it will be easy for him. Clara Barton is perfect for his reading level, but a little longer than he's used to reading aloud, so it will be good for reading and history. Wilbur and Orville Wright will make a great read-aloud for him to narrate from. Abigail Takes the Wheel was a special favorite as my father-in-law had picked it up last year from his library in New Castle, IN, and James and Evelyn read/listened to it read over and over. It's based on a story from a children's magazine in 1881. It doesn't say whether it's fiction or non-fiction, but it sounds like it could very well be non-fiction. Evelyn has enjoyed having James read the Henry and Mudge books to her. They enjoy the stories of a boy and his dog, Evelyn enjoys the time with James, and James doesn't realize that he's getting practice in reading! See, there's method to my madness!

After receiving our coupons yesterday from Half-Price Books, I'm really excited to see what we bring home the next time we shop. I hope they do this promotion again next year. I think we'll participate all summer long!

Whew! What a Day!

2008-08-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

I try to do my errand running/grocery shopping on one day every other week. Part of the reason is that Whole Foods, our main grocery store, is 35 minutes away. With three children and one on the way, I don't like to make the drive OR do the shopping more than once every two weeks. I'm usually out in between times visiting friends or going to church, and I'll combine one or two errands with those trips, but I like to have only one BIG trip.

Today was a GIGANTIC trip. I had an appointment with the cardiologist (just a routine check-up), so I decided to make this THE shopping day. My cardiologist is only two miles from Whole Foods. So, here were my stops for the day. Ready...okay!

First, the cardiologist, then Target to exchange a purchase, Whole Foods for groceries, the lamp store to fix two lamps (which have been broken for a year and it took all of 5 minutes to fix and cost $3.45!), Chick-Fil-A for lunch, Office Max, Half-Price Books (just to get the kids coupons, not to shop, we'll do that another time), Toys R Us (the kids had money burning holes in their pockets!), James' eye doctor (to get his glasses adjusted -- a bi-weekly trip at least!), the library, Wal-Mart, the credit union, the dry cleaners and Kroger. Fourteen stops!

I did learn something about my kids though. We have rest time every day. Jefferson usually sleeps from 1-4 and James and Evelyn have a rest/quiet time from 2-4. They can read books, listen to audio books or song cd's, play quiet games (for Evelyn -- magnetic dress-up dolls or ponies, for James -- knights or coloring) or sleep. This is for their benefit as well as mine. I just never realized that they enjoyed it so much! We didn't get home until 4:45, so I told them that we wouldn't have rest time today. They both moaned, and James said, "You mean, we shopped all the way through rest time?" James had purchased two more knights and Evelyn had purchased a pony, and they both wanted some quiet time to play with their toys. I had also purchased James a book on knights and castles at the library. Wow! They need their rest time as much as I do! :-)

Well, I'm off to bed now. I'm going to visit Catherine tomorrow, so I need to get up and make chocolate chip cookies. Yum, yum!

Update on the Family

2008-08-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted this week at all. It's been a busy one! We had our last day of VBS on Tuesday. Our church does it one day a week for an entire month. It's worked out better for us that way. I was in charge of teaching the Bible lessons which were a particular challenge in that I wasn't using a canned curriculum. I needed to prepare them -- from scratch! That is always a situation in which I am stretched as I feel quite inept. I enjoy the teaching but not the preparation. The Lord helped me through it and the children seem to have retained quite a bit, so I praise the Lord for that. That Tuesday, Evelyn was sick though, so she and Jefferson were unable to stay for the water party afterward. James stayed with a friend, and we picked him up later that night. He had a blast!

I started Jefferson on green beans again on Wednesday. So far so good -- I think. We had 7 dirty diapers in a 24-hour period from Friday to Saturday. His little behind started getting quite raw, and I was a little nervous since we had had an issue about two weeks ago that took me awhile to clear up. But he seems to be okay now, and I'm not ready to attribute the bowel issues to the green beans -- yet. We'll have to see how it continues to go! He's starting not to like the chicken. Honestly, I can't blame him. His diet is still so limited at this point, but he has to eat it. I'm going to look into turkey options for this week. He turned his nose up at turkey several months ago, so I haven't given it to him since, but maybe he's ready for another change.

He also enjoyed his therapy session on Thursday, and I did too -- amazingly enough! I now have hope that his therapy may accomplish the intended goal of encouraging him to speak. Along those lines, he continued saying "Mama" and "Bapa" for Grandma and Grandpa, but he added "Roro" for Nana. We all laugh because we don't know where he got it, but it's either "Bapa" and "Roro" for Papa and Nana, "Bapa" and "Mama" for Grandpa and Grandma, or "Dada" and "Mama" for Daddy and Mommy. He's also getting a little better at saying water. I think it's finally sounding like "wawa". Ahhhhh, progress!

I was supposed to have my homeschool supplies ordered by this weekend, but that did not happen. I'm not even sure it's going to happen by this weekend, but hopefully by the beginning of next week. Once I order, I'll let you all know my big plans for the school year, but I'm too methodical in this process, so it may still be awhile!

I'll quit for now. I'll try to update more frequently with shorter posts this coming week. :-) We have doctor's appointments on Monday and Tuesday and therapy on Wednesday, and Ryan and Evelyn leave for SC on Friday. Busy, busy, busy!

Jefferson

2008-07-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd include a picture of the little guy with the health problems. Audrey (my sister) bought the shirt and vest for him at The Children's Place outlet for $1.99 each! I thought he looked absolutely adorable for Sunday church that I snapped a picture. These are definitely his colors!

Thanks, Aunt Audrey!

Kids enjoying the outdoors

2008-07-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

For those of you who see me on a regular basis, you know that I complain about the kiddos not playing as well outside as you would think they would or should. I think it all comes back to James' influence. Evelyn is content playing by herself and Jefferson loves the outdoors, but James doesn't. And if James isn't happy, ain't no other kiddos happy!

Anyway, yesterday, they spent about 1 1/2 hours outside and a lot of the time they were in the sandbox. I know that a lot of moms are against sandboxes because of the mess, but the way I figure it is this -- if they spend 30 minutes in the sandbox and it takes me 5-10 minutes to clean them off, I still got 20-25 minutes of work/reading/computer done, uninterrupted! And, as happened yesterday, if they go from the sandbox to jumping on the trampoline, the trampoline cleans most of them off, and I have even less work to do. I snapped this picture because they were having such a good time building castles.

See how Jefferson is sitting though? I wonder if that could have anything to do with the welts on the underside of his thighs? Thoughts, anyone?

Jefferson Update

2008-07-26T06:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another big cooking day. I'll include pictures at the end. We're still debating about Jefferson's reaction to green beans, if it was to green beans at all. In the last post, I said that he had broken out on his face after every meal. He continued to do that until Thursday. Then after lunch on Thursday (while his speech therapist was there) the back of his neck had huge welts of hives on it! He was scratching away, but he never complains. He really is the sweetest boy you could ask for! The therapist thought it was because she had touched him without washing her hands, but we'll probably never know. That's how it is with Jefferson.

On Friday, his face was slightly red after breakfast, but after lunch, he was scratching the underside of his legs with a vengeance. It's not unusual to see him scratching the underside of his knees because his eczema is concentrated there, but this was higher than his knees. So I turned him over, and he had the same exact welts on the underside of both of his thighs! If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them. Both times he had been outside, but he's been outside other times as well with no reaction. He just seems to be extremely susceptible to everything -- most of which we don't even know. We just continue to pray for God to give guidance and wisdom and direction in how we deal with him.

In addition to the cooking for Jefferson that I did, I also washed all of the produce from grocery shopping on Wednesday (grapes, kale, broccoli), cooked a triple batch of black beans (for several meals this week), cooked a double batch of rice, baked chocolate chip cookies, made homemade applesauce from apples that some friends gave us and put a chicken in the crock pot for overnight. Believe it or not, I hate being in the kitchen, but, if you looked at my pattern of life, you would never know it! I guess we all do what is necessary, huh? :-)

Peeled and cubed zucchini ready to be steamed. This should last almost a week.

2 lbs. of broiled hamburgers. I'll be cooking more tomorrow.

Steamed spinach. My mom gets discouraged for me with the spinach. A lot of leaves get steamed down to almost nothing! Jefferson loves it and he eats quite a bit. Thankfully, it's not hard or time-consuming to make!

Baked acorn squash. Another favorite of Jefferson's. This should last about 5 days.

Steamed asparagus. Not his favorite, but since he's not eating a lot of greens right now, he doesn't have a choice! This will last for a week. I tried to steam it less this time, so it's still a little crunchy. This will help for his speech therapy, and I hope it will help the taste a little. Unfortunately, this is against protocol for this stage in his diet. It's not as easily digested. I've taken some other shortcuts as well though, so we'll see how this turns out.

His speech therapy went surprisingly well. I really like this therapist and so did Jefferson. She can only come every other week right now, at least until October, so another therapist will fill in on the off weeks. They really feel like he needs weekly therapy now. She used bubbles with him, and he loved it so much that he started saying, "bubl". I spelled it that way because it doesn't quite sound like "bubble". In fact, it's hard to differentiate among "Papa", "Bapa" and "bubl", but we are sure trying. It's neat that he's saying more words!

Free Books!

2008-07-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

Today was errand day. I try for this only to happen once every two weeks, and we're usually gone 4-6 hours. Today, we were gone for five hours and only missed one stop. That was the farm, and we'll try to do that tonight while Ryan is away.

This was the first week that I kept track of the kids' reading logs and took them by Half-Price Books to claim their $3 coupon. I was so pleased with the results!

The kids wanted a Princess sticker book (Evelyn) and a Lightning McQueen anthology (James) -- I didn't even know they had those -- but, in light of all my reading on Charlotte Mason lately, we were not going to get twaddle when we could get free Caldecott Medal winners! I had been wanting to get Chanticleer and the Fox for a long time. It's an adaptation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales for children which does not skimp on language and the illustrations are quite well-done.

I have two more weeks where we can get the $3 coupons. This promotion ends on August 2 as does the library reading program. We actually combined the two programs and got credit at both the library and Half-Price Books. We read The Cricket in Times Square and The House at Pooh Corner.

For those adults who haven't read Winnie-the-Pooh books recently (I'm talking about the originals), it's well worth it. The humor is there for the adults to catch on to as well. In fact, I read it aloud one day as we were traveling and Ryan was cracking up at all the references. It would be a refreshing read.

James -- an artist?

2008-07-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend, for those of you who are my facebook friends, you will have noticed that I went to the library sale. It was $5 a bag day. So, I picked up 2 bags worth. We're still trying to determine where the majority of them will go! (On the side, I haven't even ordered my homeschooling materials yet, and we're already short on space!)

One of the books that I managed to find a home for was an Usborne book -- I Can Draw Animals. I've purchased drawing books before, but James has not shown an interest, but I thought I would just put it in the playroom and maybe he would pick it up and attempt a few.

Here is what he showed me when his rest time was over yesterday.

It brought tears to my eyes! I was really proud of his effort.

Jefferson Update

2008-07-22T12:43:00.001-07:00

Well, we started green beans on Saturday and...the jury's still out. Yesterday, after breakfast, Jefferson's lower face and forehead was completely broken out in hives. The same things happened after lunch and then dinner. With the breakfast incident, I thought it was my fault. You see, Evelyn dropped her milk glass and it shattered, spilling the milk inside. I had to clean her up thoroughly. In the meantime, Jefferson finished his breakfast and was making it quite clear that he wanted to get down! So...as soon as I finished wiping up the spill, I rinsed my hands, grabbed his washcloth to wash him up and got him down. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to THOROUGHLY wash my hands with soap. I only gave them a quick rinse, and Jefferson is HIGHLY allergic to dairy. So, I figured the hives were my fault because he had come into contact topically with them. Why then did he break out after lunch and dinner?

This morning, I gave him green beans. He still broke out. So, for lunch, I did not give him any. He was still broken out after lunch but less so. So...the jury's still out. See what I mean?

On a more positive note, he started saying "Grandpa" this morning. I think he's also saying "Grandma". It just happens to be "Mama"! Grandpa seems to be more of a "Bapa", but he often says "Mama" with it. He did it all while pretending to talk on the phone. I would ask him if it was Grandpa, and he would nod vigorously. When he said "Mama", I asked if it was Grandma, and he said, "Ohhhhhhhhhh" in his "Oh, I see" voice!

Always happy for little improvements! He has his first speech/feeding therapy on Thursday. I'll try to update everyone!

Jefferson Update

2008-07-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start keeping up with my blog a little more since people have been asking about our family and often about Jefferson. I'm not going to go into his history here, but as I write about him, I'm sure that details will come out such that you'll soon be able to piece the entire story together.

Along those lines, I cooked his chicken today. I have to cook an entire chicken about every other day. Most weeks that means that I cook 3-4 chickens! I either roast them or cook them overnight in the crock-pot. If I cook them in the crock-pot, I don't bother making broth because the chicken falls apart. Also, I have more chicken broth than you could probably imagine in my freezer. :-)

Today, as I "stripped the chicken" (my description of my frequent activity), I became rather discouraged. This is the same bowl I use most times, but, usually, the chicken almost overflows the bowl. Sometimes, I even have to get a second container. Not so this time. In other words, Saturday night, I'll be cooking more chicken. :-(

Today, I still have to bake some squash for him and steam cubed zucchini. He's been getting better at eating asparagus and mushrooms. In fact, often he'll eat those before the meat! He really prefers his vegetables over his meat. I guess that's good -- just more cooking!

I'll start him on green beans tomorrow. They were listed as a sensitivity on his blood work. So, I will need to keep a closer eye on his physical condition. I'm excited though to add in more green veggies!

Here's a video of Jefferson saying his newest words, "Dada" and "Mama". Especially since he's about 1 year behind on saying these words, they are very precious to us.

I Cannot Keep Living Things Alive!

2008-07-18T06:22:00.001-07:00

Most of you didn't know that we had two goldfish. That's because we only had them for 24 hours! Just so you know, for future reference, I have a very hard time keeping things alive! This does not apply to my children, but to most other living things.

Anyway, Ryan's great-aunt Betty gave us these fish. She saved them from certain destruction at the hands of those who run her assisted-living facility. She knew the children would love them, and they did. But she discounted my participation!

The water was getting cloudy on Monday morning, so I changed the water. Apparently, you're supposed to use distilled or filtered water and, according to my friend Candi, only supposed to change 20% at one time. I didn't know all of this at the time. I simply assumed that I put them back in room temperature tap water. Lesson learned!

We had a remembrance service for them, and I thought James did an excellent job delivering the eulogy. Maybe he will be a preacher as my mother-in-law predicts! Here it is for your enjoyment!

Evelyn's Ears Are Pierced!

2008-07-18T05:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening, Ryan decided to take us all out for Ritter's Frozen Custard -- some of the best custard you will ever taste! We decided to eat our custard on the umbrella-covered tables. James decided that he needed a drink, and I asked if he would take Jefferson with him. About 5 minutes later, Ryan suggested that maybe I ought to check on them, so I went inside to help facilitate the process. When I came back out, Ryan announced that Evelyn wanted to get her ears pierced!

Evelyn is going with Ryan to Uncle Bevan's graduation in 3 weeks -- yay for Uncle Bevan! He will have his Ph.D.! Anyway, I think that Ryan suggested that she might want her ears pierced for the occasion. Since we have this wonderful new outdoor mall only 5 minutes from our house and I know that they have a Claire's there, I suggested that we go there and get her ears pierced.

Of course, we didn't think of stopping back by the house to get our camera, but I took some pics this morning. She was so brave! She smiled all the way through until the first "pinch". Those of you who know Evelyn would expect very dramatic screaming and writhing, but she just cried a normal cry. You know, the kind that we all cry when we don't like something but know we have to go through it again. Not too bad at all! She even stayed still for the second ear!

Enjoy the pictures! I also included pics of her first double French braids. Those who have had girls will probably laugh at my first attempt at this, but, if it stays in until naptime, I will feel that I have had success!

She is wearing a sticker that says, "I just got my ears pierced!"

Why I Homeschool

2008-05-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

James Meets His Hero

2008-05-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

Active military + donations = Ron Paul?

2008-02-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that my brother is serving in a specialized unit in the armed forces, already having experienced several tours in Iraq/Afghanistan in a short amount of time.

Given my personal interest in this so-called "War on Terror", and given my support of Ron Paul for president, I find it fascinating that Ron Paul consistently receives more financial support from active military donors than for any other presidential candidate. I believe this is for several reasons: 1) Many active duty military personnel don't agree with the premise that we went into Iraq because it was a direct threat to our nation's security 2) They don't want to be in a place indefinitely in a nation building capacity (as John McCain has proposed) 3) They trust Ron Paul's word that he would refocus the military on defending the greatest threats to our nation's security 4) They know that Ron Paul would seek to procure greater health care and other related benefits for them once they retire, without bankrupting our country (i.e. drastically cut the size of government).

Obviously, Ron Paul will not win the nomination. However, I believe these donations send a very strong message to those who would seek to be our Commander-in-Chief - namely, that the Constitution matters and that our fighting men and women should not be used and discarded!

The video below illustrates one of the many reasons why I believe Ron Paul is the ONLY qualified candidate to be Commander-in-Chief.

Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition -- Math

2008-02-06T12:09:00.000-08:00

I'm almost embarrassed to post again. I completely forgot about last week's post. By the time a friend alerted me, I was too behind and too busy to post. So, I'll try to include an extra little treat at the end (if I can figure out how to upload it!).

I'm thrilled though that this week is Math because James finished his Primer level this week! I filled out his first certificate that he wants to keep in his room, and we have officially started on the Alpha level.

We use Math-U-See as our curriculum. If you do much reading on homeschooling, math is one of those subjects that everybody has a strong opinion on. I don't. I've read about waiting to start math until they're 10 years old, I'm just not brave enough to try it. I've read about teaching straight math facts whether or not they understand what they're learning, and I've read about taking a gentle approach to learning math.

Math-U-See is a very gentle approach, in my opinion. I'm still not quite sure why I chose it except that it seemed to present the material in a practical way. It is also recommended on Ambleside Online (a Charlotte Mason community). James understands what he's learning, and it's exciting to see! Math-U-See sets a foundation for future algebraic equations as well. Believe it or not, story problems were introduced in the Primer level as well as solving for an unknown. It is very gentle and not at all hard for him, and I don't think it's because he is gifted. I'm not convinced that he is in math.

Math-U-See uses manipulatives to teach the concepts. The manipulatives are colored rods for each number 1-10 and they have blocks for the hundreds. The rods can also be used as building blocks (Legos idea) and my children have enjoyed that aspect as well! As with any curriculum, you can modify exactly how you use it. I found that the manipulatives greatly added to understanding what was being taught. In fact, today, as I was making out some subtraction flashcards, I asked him what 9-1 was. He hesitated and then said 8. Then he said, "I remembered how I built it, Mommy."

Math-U-See also introduces place value in a unique and gentle way so that the child understands what 359 is. He understands that there are 3 hundreds, 50 tens, and 9 ones. That's amazing to me!

In the Primer level, he was gently introduced to writing the numerals, using the colored rods, adding +1 up through 10, adding double numbers (1+1, 2+2, 3+3, etc.), adding combinations of numbers that equal 10 (6+4, 7+3, 8+2, etc.), telling time and subtracting by 1. As he learned each concept, I made flashcards to go along with them. Math-U-See also introduced adding the tens. For example, after he learned all of the +1 equations (1+1, 2+1, 3+1, etc.), he learned 10+10, 20+10, 30+10, etc. I decided to add the hundreds to it and made flashcards for 100+100, 200+100, etc. He had absolutely no trouble understanding what it meant after I explained it the first time.

I have enjoyed doing math with James, and he enjoys it as well. It ranks up there with his favorite subjects. Actually, the only subjects he doesn't like are piano (wouldn't you know that I'm a piano teacher) and German. Oh, well.

Thankfulness

2008-02-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

This morning, in our home, we had a thankfulness problem. Apparently, since I didn't make the millet with applesauce but added sugar instead, it was unacceptable. Even after I asked the offending child to remind me in the morning for tomorrow's breakfast, the ungratefulness persisted. As that child sat through breakfast watching us eat (without eating themselves), we went through Bible verses that were especially applicable. These verses were intended to help both of the older children, since the other one had been complaining that I wasn't fast enough. "I'm hungry, Mommy. I'm hungry now. May I eat now?"

One of the most obvious verses that probably every parent uses is I Thessalonians 5:18. "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Have you ever meditated on the last half before? "...for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." I certainly hadn't.

Isn't it wonderful how the Scriptures are truly living? God's Word is applicable for every person in every circumstance. How many times I've been correcting the children using a "child's verse" and the Lord's convicted my heart when I realize that verse applies to me as well!

Am I thankful for my hard-working husband, even though he won't be home until 10:30 any night this week?

Am I thankful that I have a godly husband and that I get to fall asleep and wake up beside him every day this week?

Am I thankful for the three wonderful children that God's given me, even though they create an immense amount of work? Could I imagine life without them?

With each of these situations that I've been tempted to complain about, I was reminded this morning of those that do not have these wonderful blessings.

I have a friend whose husband (due to work circumstances) is only home on the weekends.

I know of several women who were recently widowed.

I have a friend whose son was fighting for his life 2 weeks ago after being diagnosed with spinal meningitis.

We have a great God who gives grace and strength for the circumstances that He ordains for our good. Who am I to question God's goodness?

In everything give thanks...

Yay! Grandma's here!

2008-01-26T10:32:00.001-08:00

Vision Forum Giveaway

2008-01-26T09:26:00.001-08:00

Hello, all! I have not had a chance to say how much I have enjoyed many of the products at Vision Forum, but suffice it to say that I have. I will hopefully write more about the specific products at later dates. But for now, Crystal is having a giveaway for a $100 gift certificate to Vision Forum. I can think of a myriad of ways to use this, but let me suggest some to you.

Return of the Daughters -- A very thought-provoking alternative to college for daughters.

So Much More -- A cd recorded for daughters to encourage them to be ambassadors and helper for their dads. This was a great encouragement for me in my attempts to rear a godly young lady who is full of energy and lacking in any desire for femininity.

Marriage to a Difficult Man -- I have enjoyed this books immensely. I am currently reading the Appendices. It's always interesting to hear how people in different centuries lived, and especially interesting to get an intimate glance inside the life of one of America's greatest preachers.

S.M.Davis Family Rebuilders Library -- A definite preacher, complete with illustrations that keep you hanging in every message, he has great insight into raising our children. I don't agree with everything he says and my husband doesn't like his style of preaching, but I'm always interested to hear other's opinions on the subject of child rearing.

Pilgrim's Progress Dramatized Audiobook -- An unabridged reading of Pilgrim's Progress with music and over 100 voices reading it. This is a treasure for our family. Our 5-year would listen to it more, but he's afraid of Appollyon. Shouldn't we all be?

Faith-Driven Family -- An excellent read by Voddie Baucham. Often, people get frustrated with Vision Forum products because they feel that they strongly condemn others who may interpret Scripture differently. Voddie Baucham does an excellent job of giving his opinion, backed with Scripture, without making one feel spiritually inferior.

Those are a few products that we have that we've enjoyed listening to and learning from.

If you'd like an opportunity to enter for a $100 gift certificate, visit Crystal's site and enter. Good luck!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

2008-01-24T06:27:00.000-08:00

Remember when I told you that James is quite interested in spiritual things?

Recently, we've been working with Evelyn (3yo) about closing her eyes during prayer. Not because it's commanded in Scripture. Rather because it can be quite distracting to have one's eyes opened when one should be concentrating on his own or other's communion with God. Evelyn struggles much with distraction, so we've been trying to focus her a little.

After prayer for breakfast this morning, Evelyn exclaims, "Mommy, I kept my eyes closed the WHOLE time!" I replied, "That's excellent, Dear. Good job!"

James responded with, "I wonder if it isn't the devil who tries to distract us during prayer. It seems to me that he doesn't want us to concentrate on God." (His words, I promise!)

Wow! The vast responsibility of training children for the Lord's glory!

Cat's in the Cradle

2008-01-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

A friend of ours made a music cd for James when he was a baby. We call it his "James cd". He pulled it out to listen to the other day, and, for the first time, I listened closely to these words. My husband thinks they're depressing, I think they're thought-provoking.

Cat's in the Cradle

A child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.
You know I'm gonna be like you."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play.
Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "Not today,
I got a lot to do." He said, "That's ok."
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed,
Said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah.
You know I'm gonna be like him."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

Well, he came from college just the other day,
So much like a man I just had to say,
"Son, I'm proud of you. Can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head, and he said with a smile,
"What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys.
See you later. Can I have them please?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's got the flu,
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad.
It's been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" -- I Cor. 11:1

Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition - Handwriting

2008-01-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back again for another review of what we do in our homsechool. Have I mentioned that I love it? Well, I do!

I started ordering homeschool materials for James when he was 3. I ordered from Sonlight and A Beka. I purchased the entire Pre-K curriculum (now Level B) from Sonlight and the phonics/handwriting from A Beka. A former A Beka representative attends our church and I had an ongoing discussion with him regarding handwriting.

As you may or may not know, A Beka begins with cursive. It never teaches manuscript, although this rep told me that it was recommended to "teach" printing the summer between 1st and 2nds grades. He said that it probably wouldn't be necessary because the student would most likely be able to do it already, just from observation.

I ordered the cursive handwriting curriculum. Then the rep, also our friend, felt guilty for pressuring me to order cursive and he included a complimentary manuscript version. He had many convincing arguments for beginning with cursive, and, after much "deliberation" I began cursive with James at age 4.

It was awful!!!!!!! He started out doing fairly well, but he hated it, I hated it, and it was becoming a discipline issue. Finally, I decided to quit handwriting since I do at least verbally espouse a somewhat Charlotte Mason philosophy. To be quite honest, I had major feelings of guilt and failure because James' best friend, who is 1 year his junior, had already started handwriting (manuscript of course)and was quite good at it.

I pulled out the handwriting curriculum for this year and decided on manuscript. James is doing great! In fact, he loves handwriting. Since Christmas, our handwriting program has consisted of writing thank-you letters to family members and friends for Christmas gifts. He writes between 2-4 sentences a day and has often asked if he can do more.

Guess what, though? I think if I would have started cursive with him this year, he would be doing just the same. I think I jumped the gun! Any of you out there like that? I am regretting it to be honest with you. Next year, when we could be working on some more advanced copywork, I will be teaching cursive. Was this year a waste? I think not. Manuscript is necessary, and he is only in kindergarten. I do believe though that we would have been a step ahead if we would have done cursive this year.

Remember, through my failings, our children progress in all areas at different rates from other children. James is years ahead in reading and comprehension but is probably average in most other areas. Don't guilt yourself if/when your child is not reaching the milestones you've set for him/her. Reevaluate, give it to the Lord, and be patient. Unless you think there is truly a learning disability, allow the child to develop at his/her own pace. Sometimes it's a little scary, but use it as an opportunity to thank the Lord for making your child unique!

Join me next week as we discuss math!

Can we say -- Space Cadet?

2008-01-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

Maybe some of you have days like this from time to time. Maybe not. Lately, I've been feeling as if I have 2 or 3 a week! But since this one is fresh on my mind, I thought I would share.

On Wednesday, I woke a little late, not much, and realized that I had not set out dinner ingredients the night before. Not to worry, I thought, I'll just set out the meat this morning, and it will be thawed by dinnertime. As you can see from my menu plan, we were supposed to have one-pot spaghetti for dinner. Unfortunately, my husband was home from work for the 2nd day with highly-contagious pink eye! Since he was still quite ill, I did not want to feed his sickness by feeding him grains (in the noodles as well as the bread), so I thought I'd do a slight-of-hand and have spaghetti squash with meat sauce. Similar taste without the grain. Score one for Dovey!

So, I set out the meat, but have this nagging suspicion that I had not purchased spaghetti sauce for that meal. Check the pantry. Suspicions confirmed -- no spaghetti sauce. Not to be discouraged, I checked over my menu plan again. Aha! We hadn't had rice and beans the night before, so I decided to fix it for tonight. Simple, right? (I realize that the grain issue applied, but I wasn't able to think very clearly, so rice and beans it was!).

Since I didn't soak the beans overnight, which is the easiest thing to do, I put a large pot on to boil. It would come to a boil, I would remove it from the heat and let it sit for an hour. Then I could add the ingredients. Still, a very simple dinner.

I was on the phone with my mom and when I got off, I went upstairs to discuss some things with my husband (who was home from work). I had a lot on my mind to discuss with him. As we were intensely discussing several issues, I began to cry. So, I went into the bathroom to have a pity party. The next things I hear is pounding up the steps, banging on the door, and yelling, "The beans! The beans!"

I ran downstairs to discover that all the water had boiled out and about half of the beans were firmly attached to the bottom of my Dutch oven!

This did not help my frame of mind!

Back to my menu plan. I have never made lentil curry, but have wanted to for quite some time. That's what I'll do, and I'll serve it over rice.

Fast forward to dinner prep.... Everything's going well. Ryan's keeping the kids entertained, so that I can get this done quickly so that we can get out the door to prayer meeting. I added all the seasonings and went to write down that we would need more curry from the store. As I put the lids back on the spices, I smelled them to see which jar they belonged to. Hmmmm, neither one smells like curry. I look at the jars. Horror of horrors! I put 1 tablespoon of cumin, not curry, into the lentils. Agh!!!!!!!!!!!! The curry was behind the cumin, and, since I was in a hurry, I grabbed the cumin.

Thankfully, my husband liked it (amazing, huh?), James picked out the apples and ate it, Evelyn refused to eat anything, and I survived it. Jefferson still gets custom-meals. Lucky Jefferson!

Do you all have days/weeks like this? Please tell me I'm not the only one!

P.S. For my family, unfortunately, NO, I'm not pregnant. Yes, I'm positive. Wish it were so, but, no.

Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition -- Bible

2008-01-15T19:31:00.003-08:00

(Edit: My apologies to you who viewed this earlier. I was aware that the hyperlinks were not working last night, but there was nothing I could do about it. Blogger wouldn't cooperate! They're all working now, so feel free to click away!)

Welcome to another edition of Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition! I briefly covered the methods that we're loosely following in my last post. If you want to get caught up, please read that first.

Today, I wanted to tell you about what we do first in the morning. After our Morning Routine, we all sit down to breakfast. Ideally, I have already eaten breakfast with my husband and cleaned up. So it's usually just the kids who are eating.

I begin by quoting the week's memory verse 3-5 times. I've struggled with whether or not we do this memory work. Both James and Evelyn have Sunday School verses and we have a family verse that we memorize as well. This week, however, we are doing the "school" memory verse.

After reviewing the "school" memory verse, I follow with our Scripture reading that corresponds to the Bible lesson for the day. We are using Covenant Home's Bible curriculum for Kindergarten. I don't believe that I'll ever agree with any book 100%, but I do like the fact that this Bible module is from a reformed perspective.

Oftentimes the Scripture reading is very long -- sometimes more than 3 chapters! I would like to cut this down and make it shorter, and I know of several moms who do/did. The problem is my 5 year old! When I say, "Wow! This is a long reading today. Maybe I should shorten it", he BEGS me to read the entire thing including genealogies! He loves the Scripture, and there is nothing that thrills me more. So, I've just come to the conclusion that I will read the entire passage of Scripture no matter how long it takes.

Another specific quirk of my son is that he LOVES to discuss ideas and philosophies. This is a potential problem for me as I struggle to keep on schedule for the day. But, one of the main reasons that we homeschool is to pass on our worldview to our children. If they wish to discuss issues, we desire to teach and instruct in the ways of the Lord. James will discuss anything all day long! He loves to ask questions, find out the whys of our beliefs and tell us what he thinks. So, often our Bible lesson generates many questions.

After the Scripture reading, I read from the Bible storybook. As I mentioned before, it's from a reformed perspective, so I appreciate the emphasis on the covenants of God and God's sovereignty. James enjoys this reading and Evelyn is beginning to pay attention more closely.

Next, I review both children's Sunday School verses with them. I usually quote them 3-5 times and by the third day, they're both usually saying them with me.

Then we do catechisms. I am doing the child's catechism with Evelyn which has shorter questions and answers. It's divided into 2 sections -- history and doctrine. I'm hoping to get through all of it by the time she's 5 years old, but I never accomplished that with James. My philosophy is that something's better than nothing! We've started working on the Westminster Shorter Catechism with James. He's currently on question 10.

Q. 10. How did God create man?
A. God created man male and female, after his own image,[26] in knowledge,[27] righteousness, and holiness,[28] with dominion over the creatures.[29]

The reason that we've started with the Shorter Catechism already is two-fold. 1) He's ready. He loves to memorize and is quite good at it. He also seems to comprehend most of it. For me, comprehension is not a prerequisite to memorization though. Following the classical model, I like to encourage memorization and then go back when he's able to understand (in the logic stage) to explain. We will most likely review the Shorter Catechism until Junior High, at least. 2) It was intended for children. The Larger Catechism was written for adults, but the Shorter Catechism was written for young children. In today's "dumbed-down" society, I want to encourage my children to think the thoughts of God and to stretch their vocabulary and reasoning ability beyond what is "expected" at their age level.

When I first introduce a question, I'll read the question and answer 5 times. Then we're done. The next day, I'll do the same. He's welcome to join in at any time. Once he starts saying, "I know it, Mom", I'll let him try it on his own until he gets it right, gently correcting his mistakes. He usually learns a question in 1 week, but some questions have taken 2 weeks. James seems to enjoy this as well as I do.

After catechisms, we usually sing a song to work on memorizing the books of the Bible, then we sing a few verses of the hymn we're learning for the month. Closing out our session is prayer.

I've made a prayer book for each of the children with each page naming a different person, and I've included a picture if there is one available. (I need to get some more printed from Snapfish!) We pray for a different person/couple/situation each day, and they each pray for one aspect regarding that person/couple/situation.

I've probably bored you to death, but that is what we do for Bible each day!

Menu-plan Monday

2008-01-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

Here's my plan for the week. Since I've never posted a recipe before, I thought I'd post one of our family's favorites. Hope you enjoy as well!

Monday -- Turkey w/gravy over rice, Kale (our favorite!), Squash, Salad

Tuesday -- Beans & Rice, Swiss Chard, Cornbread, Salad

Wednesday -- One-pot Spaghetti (see recipe below), Broccoli & Cauliflower, Homemade herbed garlic bread (yummy!), Salad

Thursday -- Lentil curry over rice (thanks, Catherine, this is our first time trying it!), Broccoli & Cauliflower, Salad

Friday -- Turkey Burgers, Sweet Potatoes, Frozen Veggie, Salad

Saturday -- Spaghetti Squash w/Meat Sauce (sounds weird, but it's great! Thanks to my mother-in-law!), Frozen Veggie, Salad

Sunday -- Roast, Potatoes, Carrots, Frozen Green Veggie, Salad

One-pot Spaghetti

8 oz. ground beef or bulk pork sausage
1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms or one 6-oz. jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced, or 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 14.5-oz. can chicken broth or beef broth
1 3/4 c. water
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 ts. dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp. dried basil or marjoram, crushed
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 oz. dried spaghetti, broken
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a large saucepan cook the ground beef or pork sausage, fresh mushrooms (if using), onion, and garlic till meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain fat.

2. Stir in the canned mushrooms (if using), chicken or beef broth, water, tomato paste, oregano, basil or marjoram, and pepper. Bring to boiling. Add the broken spaghetti, a little at a time, stirring constantly. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Boil gently, uncovered, for 17 to 20 minutes or till spaghetti is tender and sauce is of the desired consistency, stirring frequently. Serve with Parmesan cheese. Makes 4 main-dish servings.

I almost always double the recipe as leftovers are always welcome at our house! I use ground beef (not pork), leave out the mushrooms (I don't like them), and use homemade chicken or beef broth. Either works just fine. I also add about 1/4-1/2 tsp. salt.

I've always disliked spaghetti, but my husband and oldest son love it. I hated to go through all the trouble for something that I didn't like, so I found this. My husband says it's even better than regular spaghetti! Hope you all enjoy!

Ron Paul #3

2008-01-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

My husband recently sent this letter to many friends and family. I thought it was excellent and wanted to post it (with his permission).

All,

This article below pretty much sums up (from a historical perspective) why I believe Ron Paul's vision for America is the right one in 2008 and beyond.

I realize that Congressman Paul's chances are minimal at best to even have a chance at winning his party's nomination this year, and that the current political hype is all about form and no substance (i.e. how candidates look, act, stand, cry, fundraise, play guitar, and cozy up to celebrities). Watching the political process as I have over the past few months, I must come to the conclusion that if Thomas Jefferson were to run for President in 2008, he would be treated the same way Ron Paul has been treated throughout this entire process - shunned from debates (thanks to Fox News), made fun of by pundits, slandered by the neoconservatives, laughed at by the other candidates and pushed to the fringes by the elites that think they know better than "we the people.". Jefferson wouldn't even be recognized by many in our age. His ideas would fall on deaf ears and most would think him strange at best.

With that said, I must confess that I'm not in the least bit depressed. In almost 20 years of political "activism," this is the first time I have felt totally confident in where I stand and who I stand for in the political process. Sure, I've realized along the way that someone of Ron Paul's strong character, consistent record and "radical" ideas probably won't win and that the media and the two-party system will force out those who speak the truth. But, I guess I'm optimistic because I've realized that this movement has finally gotten its voice and this message is being sent out all over the Internet and the airwaves through debates, radio, TV and print commercials, and articles such as this. Movements take a long time to gain traction, and I believe this is starting to happen with the message of personal liberty and freedom in our country.

Make no mistake, the Clintons are not the only or even the biggest threat to our freedoms. George W. Bush has caused this movement to really awaken and neoconservatives and big government proponents such as Huckabee, McCain, Romney and Guiliani are the "me toos" of George W. Bush and the Clintons. They may all talk about morals, freedom, equality and limited government, but they are ultimately addicted to government and its alluring benefits. Don't be fooled - this is a game of influence, money, fame and ultimately power. Thomas Jefferson had no such objective. His was to free the states from the tyrannical power of a centralized government and bring it back to the people. Through history, we can see that when we followed that plan, it has worked.

At this election season, I am allowing for a little historical perspective in the race for the White House. So, I hope you enjoy this article as much as I have.

Sincerely,
Ryan Elliott

Here is the article to which he referred.

BTW, did you know our youngest son's name is Jefferson?!

Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition

2008-01-08T19:19:00.001-08:00

This year, I would like to start a series on homeschooling that I will publish every Wednesday. I am in my first official year of homeschooling and I am loving every minute of it! When my husband and I were first married, we decided that we would leave all options on the table for educating our children. Since I have a passion for research and love reading about issues that affect Christians and their families in modern culture, naturally, I began to research homeschooling.

I think that we are beyond the point of no return! We are so convinced that homeschooling is the absolute best (not perfect, mind you) way to educate our children, that we will [u]most likely[/u] homeschool all of them all the way through.

The Lord is always able to change our minds though, and we desire to be open to His will.

With all that said, I would like to tell you a little about the philosophies that I have chosen to incorporate as we homeschool.

Charlotte Mason was a 19th-20th century British educator who spehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifnt her life seeking to improve the quality of children's education. Her methods and philosophies are known as the Charlotte Mason Method of homeschooling. She believed in letting a child experience learning as they explored nature, observed art and culture and read "living books." She was a staunch opponent of what she called "twaddle" -- children's books (or adult, for that matter) with no purpose other than to entertain.

There are many more aspects to her philosophy, including, but not limited to, habit training, dictation, narration, poetry, copywork, etc. While many who know me may be surprised that I would be drawn to this type of philosophy, I see the value in what she is espousing, and I desire the result for my children -- a love for learning and a realization that learning takes place every day for the rest of their lives.

Classical education is a method of education that is growing and not just in homeschool circles. I'm sure that most of you have heard of Classical schools being started. In fact, we have one here in central Indiana! Classical education is based on the trivium -- grammar, logic and rhetoric.

The three aspects of the trivium describe how a student learns in each stage. For example, the grammar stage, which corresponds to elementary school (approximately 1st-4th grades), focuses on memorization. This is based on the assumption that children don't understand the "whys" at this stage, but they love to memorize. So, you simply take advantage of the stage they're naturally in.

The grammar stage corresponds roughly to 5th-8th grades. In this stage, the student learns why things happen and how things work. So they are constantly building on the facts that they have memorized and now understand why the facts are ... facts.

Lastly, the rhetoric stage teaches the student how to express what they now know and understand. There is a large emphasis on writing and speaking for the purpose of informing or persuadeing.

The trivium also describes how most of us learn any given subject. For instance, I had to learn html a few days ago in order to post our homeschool schedule. I was mainly concerned with the grammar stage, and I found an excellent webpage with all html code on it. That was all I needed to know in order to publish my post. I still do not understand why it works, nor can I write fluently in it or explain it to others. That would be progressing to the logic and rhetoric stages. Maybe some day...

These two methods seem to stand in sharp contrast to each other. There are those who say that. There are others that show their similarities and that's what I focus on. They both emphasize livings books. They both want a student to discover how to learn on their own and to enjoy learning. They both emphasize narration, dictation, copywork and habit training. There are many other similarities, but we'll keep it simple for now.

I'll leave you with a few resources should you desire to learn more. Ambleside Online is a free website devoted to the application of Charlotte Mason's methods. Warning: if you join one of their message groups, they are Charlotte Mason die-hards! They will only recommend and follow her exact methodologies and they study her written books as thoroughly as one should study his/her Bible. The information contained on the website is invaluable though and should definitely be perused.

Trivium Pursuit is a website started by the Bluedorn family who are strong advocates of Classical education. They approach it from a Christian perspective. For me, that's very important, as Classical education can endorse very blasphemous and vulgar writings. They have written Teaching the Trivium which is a large and very comprehensive book on implementing and teaching the classical method to your children. I highly recommend this book!

The Well-Trained Mind is another website devoted to classical education. Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer run this site and are also published authors. The Well-Trained Mind is an excellent book introducing the classical method and its' implementation. Most libraries carry this book. Reading Jessie Wise's experience as a homeschooling mom in the 70's was eye-opening and inspiring for me.

There will always be disagreements among strong opponents or advocates of each homeschooling method. I think you need to pick and choose what will work best for your situation.

Two other books that most libraries carry that will help you get started on researching are Mary Pride's Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling and Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for Homeschooling Curriculum.

See you back here next week!

Making Your Home a Haven

2008-01-07T12:08:00.000-08:00

(This was partially written and supposed to be published yesterday. However, I wanted to insert a table, as you can see. To make a long story short, I've learned, learned to use, and used html all in the last 24 hours! In fact, I hand-typed all of the html code to format the table below. Maybe for some of you, that's second-nature, but it's not for me, and I'm rather proud of myself right now! So....even if you don't read the schedule I've posted, could you please admire the work that I've done, however imperfect it may be? Thank you!)

(Edit:I'm not sure why Jefferson's schedule is only partially showing. I guess that's more for me to learn, but not this go-round (is that even a word?). He's not even 1 1/2 yet, so I'm sure nobody's too disappointed to not be able to see what he's scheduled to do!)

I am excited about this weekly addition to Crystal's blog! I have so much that I would like to do in our home, but I need a little structure and smaller goals to prod me on to accomplish great things. With that said, my first priority this weekend was to tweak our homeschool schedule. Of course, since today was my first day on our schedule, I didn't stick to it much at all. I also had a sick child, needed to take time to teach all of the new aspects of our schedule and had to get my children out of doors. It's 65 degrees on January 7 in Indiana! Who'd have thunk it?

I'm posting our schedule more for my own accountability than for your information. (That's really what this blog was about in the first place.) So, here's our new Winter/Spring 2008 Family Schedule!

	Dovey	James	Evelyn	Jefferson
5:30	Shower/Dress/ Prepare Breakfast/ Quiet Time/ Exercise
7:00	7:15 -- open James' door and turn off fan
7:30	Help James and Evelyn/ Bible time with Evelyn/ Jefferson up	Rise/Morning Routine	Rise/Morning Routine	7:50-up
8:00	Do Bible time w/kids while feeding Jefferson	Breakfast/Bible time	Breakfast/Bible time	Breakfast/Bible time
8:30	Morning Chores	Morning Chores	Morning Chores	free play
9:00	Handwriting & Math w/James	Handwriting & Math	Letter Factory video	Letter Factory video
9:30	Calendar, Journal, Phonics & Reading	Calendar, Journal, Phonics & Reading	play alone	pack 'n' play
10:00	History, Science, Read-Alouds	History, Science, Read-Alouds	Free Play/Join us if desired	free play
10:30	Play w/Jefferson	Play w/Evelyn	Play w/James	Play w/Mommy
11:00	School w/Evelyn	Play w/Jefferson	School w/Mommy	Play w/James
11:30	Daily dusting or vacuuming	Daily dusting or vacuuming	Daily dusting or vacuuming	Free Play
12:00	Lunch prep w/helper	Straighten House/Help Mommy w/lunch	Straighten House/Help Mommy w/lunch	Free Play
12:30	Lunch & Clean-up	Lunch & Clean-up	Lunch & Clean-up	Lunch & Clean-up
1:00	Read-aloud book	Read-aloud book	Read-aloud book	Nap
1:30	Piano lessons/practice w/kids	Piano practice	Piano practice	Nap
2:00- 4:00	Scheduled day’s activities/Teach	Rest Time	Nap/Rest Time	Nap
4:00	Free	German on computer (15 min.)	Free Play	Free Play
4:30- 5:30	Arts & Crafts/Take a walk/Game/Play time together	Arts & Crafts/Take a walk/Game/Play time together	Arts & Crafts/Take a walk/Game/Play time together	Arts & Crafts/Take a walk/Game/Play time together
5:30- 6:30	Dinner Prep w/helper	Help Mommy w/dinner/ play w/Jefferson	Help Mommy w/dinner/ play w/Jefferson	Play w/sibling
6:30	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
7:00	Dinner/Clean-up	Dinner/Clean-up	Dinner/Clean-up	Dinner/Clean-up
7:30	Morning Prep	Playtime w/Daddy/ bath time	Playtime w/Daddy/ bath time	Playtime w/Daddy/ bath time
8:00	Family Devotions	Family Devotions	Family Devotions	Family Devotions
8:30	Kids in bed/ 15 min. w/Ryan	Bedtime	Bedtime	Bedtime	Bedtime
9:00- 10:00	Personal Time
10:00	Upstairs to bed/Read
10:30	Lights out

As an aside, I would not normally spend only 15 minutes with my husband per night, but he's working on his MBA right now. He likes to do as much on the weeknight evenings as he can, so that he can, theoretically, have more time with the kids on the weekends. In 1 1/2 years, we'll start spending some more time together!

Menu-plan Monday

2008-01-07T08:04:00.000-08:00

Hello! Back to a newly-scheduled week! (more on that later) Anyways, here is my plan for our meals for this week.

Monday -- hot dogs (the healthy kind), baked potatoes, fresh green beans, corn on the cob (a new product at Whole Foods), and salad
Tuesday -- Lentil soup w/sausage, homemade croutons, salad
Wednesday -- Chicken rice bake, cornbread, salad
Thursday -- Spaghetti, homemade garlic bread, broccoli, salad
Friday -- Rice and beans, spinach, salad
Saturday -- turkey w/gravy over rice, Swiss chard, salad
Sunday -- roast, potatoes, carrots, frozen green veggie, salad (notice a pattern here!)

Christmas Vacation Update

2008-01-05T12:20:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm finally getting back into a schedule. Homeschool starts again on Monday. I have so enjoyed the Christmas vacation! The week before Christmas was rather crazy at our house. My husband is working on his MBA and was pretty much unavailable for Christmas preparations, so it all fell to me. I was rather behind on the week before Christmas, so that's why you didn't hear much from me. But....as is his tradition, he was able to take a full TWO WEEKS off! That's also why you didn't hear much from me! But, alas, all good things must come to an end, and he's working on his MBA classes now, the kids are down for naps/rest time, and I'm catching up on online work, cleaning up lunch, preparing a Sunday School lesson and starting dinner!

We were able to spend 1 week in Michigan over the holidays and we had a rather wonderful surprise. My brother, who is a member of a specialized unit in the Army, surprised us all for Christmas! My dad was the only one in on it, and it was quite the surprise for the rest of us.

I'll give you a short synopsis. I had asked my dad over coffee if he thought it would be possible for my brother to surprise us. He said he doubted it. (Apparently lying, when keeping a secret, is not a problem for him!) He then received a cell phone call (we later learned it was from my brother) and told us that his work was having some computer problems! My sister and I went shopping later, and everyone else was doing their own thing -- my dad was playing with my children, my brother-in-law and husband were on their computers and my mom was cooking. My brother just walked in the house, past my husband and brother-in-law (who never noticed him) and joined my dad in playing with the kids! Finally, when nobody noticed that he was there, they sent my daughter, Energizer Bunny (EB), into the kitchen to tell Grandma that Uncle Blake was here. Grandma and EB argued until EB stomped her foot and said, "Will you just come see?" Grandma replied with a huff, "Alright, I will!" Needless to say, she was a bit surprised!

Then they sent Reader Rabbit (RR) in to tell the men that he was here. The same thing happened until Grandma said, "Come see for yourself." Then they called me and my sister to tell us to get back for dinner. So we rushed home.

When we arrived, my mom said that we needed to go down to the basement to discuss a gift. (This was actually true. We did need to discuss this gift.) It was a set up though to surprise us. Here's the video of the result, courtesy of my brother-in-law. For those of you who don't know what I look like, I'm the vocal one. In my sister's defense, she saw my brother first, but he hushed her with his finger, so she wasn't able to be vocal. She probably would have been too.

It was a wonderful surprise and made Christmas so much happier as we knew that he was home, safe and sound, from his 4th tour of duty. We are so thankful to the Lord for His protection.

World's Easiest Christmas Candy

2007-12-18T11:52:00.001-08:00

Ok, I've talked so much about health, eating organically, eating simply, cooking from scratch, etc., and now I'm going to shatter all these wonderful ideals you've built up in your minds concerning me! I do allow myself and my family to splurge at the holidays, and we've taken advantage of it this year! Crystal posted on her site last year about the World's Easiest Christmas Candy. Oh, my! It is SCRUMPTIOUS! But it sounds a little strange to make. Hear me out though....

Preheat over to 350 F.

1 sleeve Saltines (yes, the crackers) spread out on a baking sheet. (Make sure to lay them out so that they're all touching, not spread out over the entire baking sheet.)

Combine 1 stick of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until gooey (great cooking directions, I know!).

Pour EVENLY over the saltines. I messed this up the first time and poured it in one big glop. It dries quickly and is not very spreadable, so try to pour evenly so that there is not much to spread. If you do mess up, just push the crackers in it and hope for the best. Ours still was very yummy!

Pop in the oven for 5 minutes, until bubbling.

Remove and pour 2 cups chocolate chips EVENLY over entire thing. Wait a minute or two until it's spreadable and spread to coat.

Pop in the refrigerator until it hardens.

Oh, my, ladies, is this ever good! You will want to keep the candy in the refrigerator as it stays more crunchy. It's a great idea for gift-giving (if you can keep your own hands off of it!). Enjoy!

Ron Paul #2

2007-12-18T11:26:00.001-08:00

I know that I haven't written my story about my journey to becoming a Ron Paul supporter yet. It's still a desire of mine to do so when I get a little bit of time. We've had some circumstances in our family that have prevented me from spending any amount of time on that project, but maybe over the holidays I can do so. Until then, I wanted to post 2 videos to youtube. These will take about 15 minutes of your time, if you have it.

Ron Paul on Morning Joe (interview with Joe Scarborough of MSNBC)

Ron Paul on CNN American Morning

Ron Paul

2007-12-17T06:24:00.001-08:00

Did you hear that Ron Paul raised over $6 million in one day? He broke the previous record which he had set on November 5! If you don't know much about Ron Paul check him out here. My husband and I are proud supporters. Come join us in supporting a man with impeccable character (30 years of voting records in Congress will prove that) and one who is a true defender of the Constitution.

Menu-plan Monday

2007-12-10T04:56:00.000-08:00

(My daughter, Energizer Bunny, REALLY likes this picture!)

Monday -- turkey burgers, roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli & cauliflower
Tuesday -- bean soup, cornbread, salad
Wednesday -- turkey tetrazzini (didn't get made last week), steamed broccoli
Thursday -- hamburger gravy over rice, frozen veggie, salad
Friday -- beans & rice, leftover cornbread, kale, salad
Saturday -- Sweet Potato, Sausage and Kale Soup (thanks, Catherine!), salad
Sunday -- brisket, carrots, potatoes (all in crockpot), frozen veggie, salad

Frugal Fridays: Millet for Breakfast! important update added

2007-12-07T12:05:00.001-08:00

For those of you wanting to eat healthy and are worried about pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics, etc. in your food, frugality in your grocery shopping may seem like something of an oxymoron. For our family, we have chosen to sacrifice in other areas rather than sacrifice in the quality of the food that we eat. For this reason, I'm always thrilled when I can find a very healthy, inexpensive meal that my children love.

Enter millet.

What a versatile grain! It can be used as a side dish or main staple, just as rice can. In fact, you can be just as creative with millet as you can with rice. But for our family, millet is a staple for breakfast.

It was the first cereal for my oldest two, Reader Rabbit (RR) and Energizer Bunny (EB). Since Goofy Boy (GB) has had some unusual health issues, I just started him on it this week. He's 15 months old. Thankfully, he loves it too!

If you can do cream of wheat or oatmeal, you can easily do cream of millet. And it's extremely yummy to boot! My mother-in-law visited my sister when she was quite ill about a year ago. (They lived in the same town.) She made a pot of this for her to help nurse her back to health and my sister loved it! She now makes it often for her own family. Sometimes she even gets a craving for it!

I have the privilege of having a grain grinder, so I can crack my millet to give it a little more texture. But if you have a blender, you can grind it to a flour or even slightly less for a more textured cereal.

You may want to experiment with the water to grain ratio. I have my own little formula that I will share, but that's simply because it's the consistency that I like.

1 c. whole millet/4 c. water
1 c. whole millet = 1 1/4 c. cracked millet
1 1/4 c. cracked millet/5 c. water
1 c. cracked millet/3 1/2 c. water

If I'm grinding only 1 c. of whole millet, it makes about 1 1/4 c. cracked millet. That cracked millet will simmer with 5 c. water. Sometimes though, I'll cracked lots and lots of millet at one time. Then I will cook 1 c. cracked millet with 3 1/2 c. water.

Now that GB is eating this, I'm going to have to figure it out for 1 1/2 c. cracked millet. It's really not an easy math problem, in my opinion. I've tried simply doubling the amount of water or cutting it in half from what I know works, but it doesn't work for me. So, I'll go back to experimenting. The good thing is that it's edible no matter what!

So, how's it done? I thought you'd never ask.

1. Combine millet and water. *Add a pinch or a dash of salt (whichever you think is more). The salt really does affect the flavor.*

2. Turn burner to medium heat.

3. Stir frequently (very important!) until it begins to bubble.
-- This is the tricky step. You begin to think that it will never come to a bubble, so you decide to stop stirring it. DON'T!!!!!!! I've had to clean more millet scorched onto the bottom of my pan than I care to admit. Sure, you can do some things around the kitchen. Just make sure that every time you walk by the stove, you stir a little. That's all. :-)

4. When it begins to bubble, it will look grainy. This is good! Take it off the heat and cover. Wait 5-10 minutes and your breakfast is ready.

Our family likes it in a variety of different ways. I'll mention some of them to start your creative juices flowing!

--mixed with applesauce

--mixed with mashed banana and milk

--mixed with honey (or sucanat, or Rapadura) and milk

--with butter, salt and freshly cracked pepper (similar to grits)

--for my little babies, I've often used millet as a base for their mashed veggies. Sounds gross, I know, but babies have no idea!

Enjoy and return next week for more Frugal Fridays hosted by biblicalwomanhood.com!

Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition

2007-12-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

I would like to post from time to time about our homeschooling experience, since I'm just starting out. As I've mentioned before, I LOVE homeschooling!

We've been using Sonlight curriculum for going on 3 years now. I really, really like it -- most of the time. There have been a few issues that we've had to deal with, but I can get into those in future posts.

Today, I thought I would focus on the literature that it exposes students to. We used the preschool curriculum for Reader Rabbit (RR) when he was 3 and 4. He really did well with it and soaked up all the literature that was read to him. That's why we decided to continue with Sonlight for kindergarten. Here's a look at all that we've read so far. (We are 11 weeks into the school year.)

We had several of these books already and therefore did not need to purchase them this year. Although I've often wished we would have and we could have given them as gifts.

I'll just focus on a few of the books to whet your appetite!

My Father's Dragon. This book was actually recommended to us by our very close friends and RR's best friend. It's about a little boy, Elmer Elevator, who travels to rescue a baby dragon from Wild Island. He takes with him lollipops, combs, chewing gum and many other unusual items to help him in his quest. He ends up using them all! As an aside, Elmer Elevator lives in Popsicornia. My daughter, Energizer Bunny (EB), has a new imaginary friend named Popsicornia! Elmer succeeds in his quest and he and baby dragon prepare to leave.

Unfortunately, that's where the book ends. We could never leave Elmer on Tangerina (where he and the dragon flew after Wild Island), could we? So, we picked up the sequels at the library -- Elmer and the Dragon and the Dragons of Blueland. We thoroughly enjoyed all of them. We finally meet Boris' family (the baby dragon of My Father's Dragon fame) and see them safely left alone in the Blueland mountains. Even EB understood a lot of this and it was fun family time for all.

The Light at Tern Rock. We have just finished this book and it's engaging and didactic at the same time. It's about a young boy (Ronnie) and his aunt who are asked to fill in for the lighthouse keeper at Tern Rock for about a week. Ronnie is excited but hesitant as he wants to make sure he's home in time for Christmas. He is assured, by the lighthouse keeper, that he will be. December 15 (the promised pick-up date) comes and goes. By December 23, they realize that they will be spending Christmas on Tern Rock. Then on December 24, a discovery is made that challenges Ronnie's faith in mankind. This is a great work for discussing injustices with your child. I plan to read this many, many times with my children. We could have a different type of discussion each time.

Maybe in my next post, we'll discuss some of the other books.

Making Your Home a Haven

2007-12-05T13:55:00.001-08:00

I have been wanting to participate in Crystal's Making Your Home a Haven all week. I just have not had the time. But today, I thought I might just be able to do it, but not in the laundry room as was suggested.

Last night, it snowed! The first snow of the season! My daughter, Energizer Bunny (EB) was soooooooooo excited that she got ALL of her stuffed animals and lined them up at the door to look outside. Then she proceeded to skip around the house cheering at the top of her lungs. Oh, to be a child again!

My husband is out of town until tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening he has an orchestra rehearsal for a Friday and Saturday concert. By the way, for you locals who view this blog, his symphony, the Anderson Symphony Orchestra, is having their debut Christmas concert in Noblesville on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. It's at the Noblesville High School and the High School Chorale and the Anderson University Chorale will be participating as well. The tickets are very affordable. Adults are $10, students 13 and older are $5 and 12 and under are free. Can you beat that? Please come. There are conflicts with other activities that night and they would like for their debut in Noblesville to be well-attended.

Enough of my sales spiel! As I was saying, my husband is out of town until tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening he has an orchestra rehearsal for a Friday and Saturday concert. So, he would not be able to shovel the driveway at all.

Now, you all know how it is. Everyone looks around to see who is not responsible enough to clean their driveway and who just lets the snow and ice pack down and look more and more unkempt. You've been guilty of it yourself, haven't you? Remember that I have 3 kids. The oldest two (5 and 3) have to be shoved outside in the summer and the door locked and bolted in order to get them to play outside. Sometimes I have to threaten them with punishment if they don't stop staring at me through our patio doorway for the entire 30 minutes they're required to stay outside. Are my kids abnormal or what?

So, now it's cold and they are loaded down with 20 extra pounds of gear to keep them warm. Is this going to work?

Then I have a 1 year old, Goofy Boy (GB).

NONE of my children would ever let me sit them outside when they were 1. Both of the others cried and screamed and tried to hyperventilate until I took them inside. BUT I was determined to get the driveway shoveled as a special surprise for my husband. (I figured that I have tomorrow to work on the house.)

Here's the before

and here's the after!

Yay for me! I did it!

And guess what? Here's how GB sat for the entire hour it took me to do this. No crying whatsoever! I think he truly enjoyed watching his brother and sister play. They played and played and played and got out more toys than they ever have in the summer. Go figure!

My only regret is that I didn't get any pictures of their playing together. Now you know what tomorrow's post will be!

Selfishness

2007-12-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to write and share with all of you something that I have been learning about lately -- how selfish I am. It's actually quite easy to think highly of myself -- I stay home with my children, I homeschool my oldest, I make all of our food from scratch, etc., but I'm a sinner saved by grace. I've realized anew how often I struggle with that "old man" of sin.

"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." (Rom. 6:6)

When we went on vacation for Thanksgiving, I took along TWO bags full of books to read! I didn't actually think I'd read them all, I just wanted to be sure that I had a selection whenever the opportunity presented itself. I didn't know, for example, whether I'd be in the mood to read theology, history, history of education, a novel, parenting books, education books, a magazine....You get the picture.

By the way, this is where we've had the privilege of spending the last six Thanksgivings! Isn't it beautiful?

Well, my daughter, Energizer Bunny (EB), became ill on Wednesday night, and we had a long night. She ended up sleeping in my bed, with RR sleeping with Daddy and GB in his pack 'n' play. She was up every 15-30 minutes until 3 a.m. acting delirious. She would yell, say unitelligible words, stare at me, walk around, etc. and then just decide to lay back down. She finally slept until 5:45 when she woke up screaming hysterically. She was SO loud that my mother-in-law, sleeping next door, came running over to find out what had happened.

Because of all of that, we decided to limit her activity for the day and part of the next. So...no nice meals in the several dining rooms they had, but room service. No pool time, but reading aloud time. No hike in the beautiful Allegheny mountains, but coloring time. The list goes on and on.

Do you know what I remember most from all of this though? (I think I read a grand total of 3 verses in Genesis the entire vacation.) But I remember my daughter falling asleep in my arms, my daughter smiling at me when I whispered that I loved her, some one-on-one time with my daughter that is often neglected in the midst of homeschooling RR and tending to GB's many needs -- complimenting her coloring abilities and seeing her face light up as I exclaimed over her recognition of letters.

When we follow Christ, Who did not look "on his own things" but only "on the things of others", we reap a multitude of benefits that far surpass the temporal joys we are seeking. Would I remember the words of the books I read during Thanksgiving? Maybe, maybe not, but I don't think that I will soon forget the special one-on-one time that presented itself to my daughter and me. I don't think she will either.

Menu-plan Monday

2007-12-03T04:51:00.000-08:00

Monday -- Turkey/rice bake, Kale, Salad
Tuesday -- Potato soup, Salad, Cornbread
Wednesday -- Turkey Tetrazzini, Asparagus, Salad
Thursday -- Beans & Rice, Leftover Cornbread, Kale, Salad
Friday -- Turkey Squares, Steamed Broccoli & Cauliflower, Salad
Satuday -- Hamburgers, Roasted Potatoes, Frozen Veggie, Salad
Sunday-- Brisket, Potatoes and Carrots in the Crockpot, Frozen Veggie, Salad

We'll see just how close to this I stick as my husband will not be eating dinner with us on several evenings. It's soooooooo tempting not to cook when he's not here, but I'm really trying to strengthen my children's immune systems for this cold/flu season and one of the best ways is having food prepared from scratch.

Frugal Fridays: Chicken Stock

2007-11-30T07:27:00.000-08:00

One of the very most frugal things one can do is to use ALL of the chicken. Yes, even the neck and gizzards! We only buy pasture chicken (free-range and organic), so I find it even more important to get my money's worth out of it. As an aside, our Wild Oats is switching over to Whole Foods since they were bought out. The Whole Foods brand chicken does not include the neck and gizzards, so I have informed them that I will be getting my chicken elsewhere in the future.

I used to worry about making my chicken stock because I didn't have leeks or fresh herbs for a bouquet garni. My mother-in-law said that I didn't need all of that. Onions and celery work perfectly by themselves. So now I just throw in celery, quartered onions and some salt and pepper and voila!--chicken stock for pennies!

Here is how I do it. FYI, the neck and gizzards make a much more rich stock, but since this was my first Whole Foods chicken, I didn't have that luxury!

First, I stewed 2 chickens all day in the crockpot. I find it best only to cook until it's done, then the carcass isn't falling apart as mine will be, but it works either way!

Separated into meat, skin and bones.

In the pot with celery and onions.

Add water to cover, along with salt and peppercorns or freshly-cracked pepper.

Straining the chicken parts from the broth.

I then had the lighter stock(right) from the chicken stock and the more concentrated broth from the crockpot during the actual cooking.

Simmer together for a short time for yummy chicken broth!

Check out here for more Frugal Friday ideas!

0 -- "I'm Just a Big Nuthin"

2007-11-28T11:40:00.000-08:00

That's how I feel. Here I start this blog and then I can't even keep up with posting on a regular basis. Anyone else have this problem?

For those of you who didn't reconize the quote, it's from the Math Circus by LeapFrog. We've been listening to LeapFrog videos quite a bit in our house and I'm now quoting from them. Scary, huh? Ah, the life of a homeschooling mom!

We've had quite a few things happen in our lives the past few months. I won't go into much detail. But 2 weeks ago, we discovered that my oldest boy, Reader Rabbit (RR), needed glasses! Not just any glasses, but bifocals! The jury is still out on whether he will also need vision therapy in conjunction with the glasses. But doesn't he look adorable?

If anyone else is a perfectionist out there, then they will understand why I haven't been posting. I've heard that with perfectionists, often their house is worse than others. That's true. It's hard for me to do something partially if it can't be done completely the right way at one time. Thus, nothing much gets done. With 3 kids, 5 and under there aren't many opportunities to do things completely, the right way, at one time!

Hence the reason that my Ron Paul posts have not been posted. I want to write the entire article and then submit it little by little. That will not happen, so I'm just going to need to do it and let the results fall where they may.

I went to the library the other night with all 3 children, waiting for my husband in a meeting. I even took along my laptop, thinking that I would write more on my Ron Paul article. I edited the first bit and wrote all of two sentences! So much for all at one time!

Oh, and I've decided that the lovely desk from this post will have to remain in its' current state. Thankfully, my husband agrees, that for the moment, homeschooling, food preparation, house cleaning and holiday preparations need to be our/my focus. So, I'm officially dropping out of the 30-day organizational challenge!

More later....

L'Oreal Infallible lipcolor

2007-11-15T17:27:00.001-08:00

I just want to say that this lipstick is the real McCoy! It is truly infallible! I put it on at 7:30 this morning and at 8:00 this evening, it still looked great! I purchased it at CVS as part of my weekly run and later bemoaned the fact that it made me spend more money than I wanted and I really didn't need it. Boy, was I wrong! It's more like a lip stain that you seal in with a topcoat that is provided. I drank coffee, ate 3 meals, kissed my kids and husband and applied chapstick several times. I highly recommend it!

Book Review: The Home at Greylock

2007-11-14T12:48:00.001-08:00

I will give you my opinion. I don't like this book. Ok, ok, I know that a review has to be a little more in depth, so I'll go in depth. I still don't like this book.

I had heard wondrous praise for Elizabeth Prentiss and her work Stepping Heavenward. Almost everyone that I know has praised that work and highly recommended it. I have it, but have not read it. Maybe that's where my trouble started. I had such high expectations for this book, and they were definitely not met.

The book is about Mrs. Grey, who has much wisdom to offer in rearing children, keeping a house, and progressing in one's sanctification. I purchased the book because of this review:

A masterpiece which explains the task of Christian parenting in story form. The wisdom of Mrs. Grey of the town of Greylock can be yours, and your own family can enjoy a piece of heaven on earth by learning her ways. Read these delightful episodes of those who meet Mrs. Grey and learn her kind, gentle, thoughtful and serving approach to life.

Needless to say, I was looking for help in my parenting and my Christian walk and I thought this book would fit that description.

First of all, I must admit, the style of writing went completely over my head. It was written in the late 1800's and I thought Elizabeth Prentiss was British because of the cultural references. She's not, but New England in the 1800's was definitely a different culture than we have now.

Secondly, I was a bit put off at the constant mention of things -- items that should be valued because of their sentimental associations.

I don't value objects. Some people would most likely say that that is to my detriment. I have wonderful memories of people and occasions, and I try to keep calendars in which to record memories, but if an item is broken, accidentally discarded, etc., I don't usually lose any sleep over it. This book referred often to the sentimental value of items.

Thirdly, I have a hard time relating with people who have maids, carriages, servants, etc. I realize that this was the custom, but it is very hard for me to take advice from someone who truly does not understand my circumstances.

Next, and this is where I really began to dislike the book. Mrs. Grey begins to scrutinize one of her daughters-in-law. This quote from the book left a poor taste in my mouth that I never recovered from. "Frank would not have married this poor, languid, inefficient woman if I had had the faith I ought, "thought Mrs. Grey. "But she is not accountable for gifts never afforded her, dear child." Now, I'll grant you, the daughter-in-law had some shortcomings. But nothing to warrant that kind of criticism. She needed to be taught not pitied.

In that vein, instead of teaching her daughter-in-law how to raise her children (what I thought this book was about), Mrs. Grey takes her children away from her and farms them out to different relatives, herself included, who could do a better job in the rearing of them.

Finally (and this is closely related with the last paragraph), Mrs. Grey intimates to her son that though he made a mistake in impulsively choosing his wife, he is still bound to love her. I agree that he is bound to love her, but to say he made a mistake is going a little too far. Is not God sovereign?

At the end of the book, there is quite a bit of death. Even Mrs. Grey herself dies. And though the characters that remain retain a bit of the grace, elegance and goodness of Mrs. Grey, there is no real application to sink your teeth into.

All in all, what I learned from this book, I've read in one chapter of many other very good parenting books. This was a storybook and not a very good one at that, in my opinion.

Whole-grain carrot and cream cheese muffins

2007-11-12T12:49:00.001-08:00

I'm in a MAJOR blogging slump. I want to blog, but the thought of organizing words so that they can be comprehended is overwhelming. Anyone have any help to offer?

I'm sure that this is due to the fact that my husband is out of town (until tonight thankfully), and I cannot sleep when he is gone. Literally, cannot sleep.

I usually stay up so late that I just drop into bed and fall asleep immediately. Of course, then I can't get up in the morning. Then school doesn't get accomplished, the house doesn't get cleaned, extra projects are not completed and everything looks generally messy!

Then my guilt trip starts and I head into the depths of despair. That's where I am right now. Not quite sure if I will come out of it by the end of the week. Hopefully.....

I'm leaving you with pictures of a rare occasion. I baked this weekend. With freshly ground kamut. I rarely take the time because I only like to bake with freshly ground grain, and I don't like taking the time to grind when my children are sleeping because it's too loud. I don't like doing it when they are awake because there are other things to be done. Like my reasoning?

Anyway, they were scrumptious and 10 of them were eaten between 4 of us for breakfast the next morning!

Self-denial for Christ's Sake

2007-11-12T12:36:00.002-08:00

Yesterday morning, our pastor preached a message from Matthew 5, the interpretation of which my husband and I have discussed for quite some time. The text is, "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." (Mt. 5:39-41)

Our discussion started after 2 incidents this summer with our 5-year old son. Both times he was playing with a neighborhood friend who either pushed or hit him. Being a depraved son of Adam, he returned the offense. He was immediately dealt with using the aforementioned passage of Scripture. His response -- "That doesn't make any sense."

It really doesn't. But God tells us that He has "chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise."(I Cor. 1:27) Not retaliating is, in the eyes of the world, foolish.

Pastor gave the example of Paul and Silas singing in prison when they were miraculously delivered by the earthquake. Most of us would rejoice in God's providence and get out of there! But not Paul and Silas. They denied themselves for Christ's sake, gathered all the prisoners together and were able to see the jailer and "all his house" believe.(Acts 16:22-34)

However, the following verses (vv. 35-40) show that Paul and Silas were not passive nor willing to overlook transgressions against them. They stood their ground and insisted that their rights be honored. What was the difference?

They were willing to deny themselves (e.g. turn the other cheek, give the cloak also, go the extra mile) for Christ's sake.

What a thought for us! Pastor did not differentiate amongst the 3 examples. He believed that they were all dealing with the same issue -- self-denial.

So, as Christians, when do we assert ourselves, demand our rights and right the wrongs done to us and when do we stand down? I don't believe that there is a formula for any of it. But I do believe that, in each situation we need to present it before God and wait for Him to reveal His will. I daresay that it will be different for each person.

Above all else, we are to deny ourselves so that we may accomplish our chief end -- "to glorify God and to enjoy him forever".

Ron Paul Series

2007-11-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

So sorry to those of you who have been waiting for my views on Ron Paul. As I was writing out what I was going to say, it kept getting longer and longer and....Well, you get the point.

Anyways, since what I am going to be posting also represents my husband, since he is the one who has led me in this direction, I want to make sure that I do not misrepresent him and his views. He is on business for the first part of this week, so I will not post until he returns and has a chance to edit my deliberations.

Since it is so long, I will be making it a series and will be open for any friendly dialogue. The first post will be explaining my journey into supporting Ron Paul. If you absolutely cannot wait to read from a supporter of Ron Paul, let me direct you to this site. Chuck Baldwin is a Baptist pastor who is an outspoken supporter of Ron Paul. You'll find many enlightening articles on his site (to help stem your curiosity!). You may even find him quoted on my site from time to time!

Thanks for your patience.

Menu-plan Monday

2007-11-12T12:09:00.001-08:00

Hello, all!

Plans have changed slightly since last week and since my husband is on a business trip, I will get to save myself a little cooking (and money) and my children and I can eat leftovers! On to my plan...

Monday -- Leftover Italian Beef Bake, spinach, salad

Tuesday -- Leftover Italian Beef Bake, Leftover Spaghetti Squash/Sauce, kale, salad

Wednesday -- Rice & Beans, Kale, Salad

Thursday -- Baked potatoes with ground turkey, cheese, sour cream, Frozen Green Beans, Salad

Friday -- Bean soup, Cornbread, Salad

Saturday -- Chicken Rice Bake, Leftover Cornbread, Salad

Sunday -- Nothing! We're eating at my husband's great-aunt's assisted living place to celebrate Thanksgiving with her. (Did that make sense?)

Very easy week for me. No complaints here!

Frugal Fridays: CVS & baby food

2007-11-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

Well, since we're coming up on the end of my first full week of blogging, I thought I'd steal somebody else's idea again. I give full credit to Crystal of BiblicalWomanhood for the Frugal Friday idea. By the way, check out her blog. It's full of information! Well, onto my first of two posts for Frugal Friday.

CVS

This is what I purchased at CVS yesterday. So what? So...I only paid $3.61 for all of it and got $5 off of my next purchase there. Yay for me! Now shopping at CVS and getting these great deals are not for the faint of heart. (in my opinion) It's taken some time and research, but look what I have to show for it! Yes, that is a blood glucose measuring device and, no, I don't have diabetes. But my mom does. And I used to. So, it can't hurt to check it every now and then, can it? Besides, I got it for free! How? you may ask. Be sure to check out this link for very detailed instructions. It's how I got my start!

I'm afraid that our family is not as frugal as Crystal when it comes to grocery shopping. She feeds her family of 4 for $35 a week! While I would love to attempt that, it is not a priority for my husband. We tend to tighten our budget in other areas because of our priority of eating organic/primarily grassfed meats. So, our meat cost alone this week was double Crystal's weekly budget, but I figure that I can save LOTS of money on our toiletries by shopping at CVS. Onto my second post!

Making baby food.

Since our produce/meat/grocery budget tends to be much more expensive than most people's due to our insistence on organic/grassfed, I try to be frugal in other areas. I also believe strongly in preventive maintenance when it comes to our health. This is one reason I have ALWAYS made my children's baby food. Our oldest ate baby food for 18 months, so, yes, it was time consuming. Our daughter was on table foods by 12 months. I thought I had it down. "All of our future children will be on table food by 12 months," I proclaimed. Then we had GB. GB has been a challenge almost from the beginning. He's had several health issues, and, since starting him on solids, several allergy issues. So I thought I'd demonstrate making baby food for a 14-month old. Hopefully, none of you will need to make it for that long!

Foods I started out with. Cut into 1/2" to 1" chunks.

I did not use all that I had, but a portion of each food.

This is partially blended. I add liquid to start off (broth, water, etc.). If it doesn't blend fully after a reasonable period of time and scraping down the sides, add more liquid.

Final product. Warning: not for the weak of stomach!

GB didn't seem to mind though! He loves his food!

Stay tuned for my Ron Paul article!

Schooling

2007-11-08T08:37:00.000-08:00

I absolutely LOVE homeschooling! I feel like I've been doing it since my oldest was 3. It is so much fun and so rewarding to see the progress they make. I thought I would share a few photos.

This is my oldest after he said, in frustration, "You ONLY like my 14 and my 17?" I circle all his handwriting letters and numbers that deserve special recognition. Obviously, he disagreed with my choices.

This is my daughter as she watches the Letter Factory in the playroom during handwriting time with my oldest. That is the only facet of our schooling in which I don't include her. My attention needs to be on the oldest. By the way, we don't watch many videos, but the Letter Factory is one that we all LOVE! It's helped immensely in teaching my oldest his letters and words and my daughter is starting to pick up on it as well. Yay!

This is my oldest as he does his math work. Believe it or not, math is his favorite subject!

And here's GB as he tries to do school too!

Struggling with being a Mom

2007-11-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

This morning was rough. I woke up thinking, "I think we'll stay pretty much on track today." I should know by now that when I think that (resting in my own strength) the day seems to go downhill. Schooling's supposed to start at 8:30. I don't know about you, but getting 3 kids, 5 and under, dressed, fed, cleaned up, chores done, etc. by 8:30 is almost impossible unless I'm up at 6 a.m. and everything is prepared the night before. While this is my goal, I seldom seem to accomplish it. Anyways, I lost my temper 3 times this morning before I gave myself a time-out. The Lord's really been helping me in this area, but today, nobody seemed to be aware of what else was going on around the house.

My GB does not talk. At all. He says either "i" or "ish" all day long. In a high-pitched whine. Constantly. This morning, my daughter was explaining to me why she needed help in getting up to the table when my oldest came marching in with a loud, "Mama, I am needing..." Did I mention my GB is always whining in the background? I raised my voice, "Can you both (oldest and daughter) please listen before you speak and find out if any other conversations are taking place? Then you must wait before you speak." They seemed to understand.

Then I sat down to work on my store list/menu. Did I mention that we're attempting grocery shopping this afternoon? As I'm trying to think of preparing food for GB over Thanksgiving vacation, what needs to be made for GB (we're out of his food and he can't eat what we're eating for the next few days), our menu and schooling supplies that need to be purchased for science experiments next week, I hear GB start his panicked crying. I ran over to find my daughter putting a plastic box over his head and holding it on him. I still have no idea why she was doing this, but I lost my temper again (#2).

I then sat my oldest down for math work, told my daughter that I needed to concentrate on my list and to play nicely. This is what I heard for the next 5 minutes -- "Mommy, isn't this a great 2? Mommy, this is the best 7 I've ever made! Mommy, could you come see my circle? It's perfect. Mommy, could you look at the words I made? Mommy, do I need to do the next page? Mommy..." My sanctification, which was already holding by a thread for the day, was lost. "Can't you guys see that I need to concentrate on what I'm doing?! I can't keep answering questions and then figuring out where I am in my thought process again. Don't you see that?" (Of course, they can't.) I gave myself a time out.

I called my husband and he told me that I need to be proactive. His advice was helpful, but it required more brain cells than I felt were available, so I kept myself locked away until I could sort out my thoughts and finish my list. I finally finished it!

By the way, if anyone's interested, I'm starting through a study on anger in my devotions. I've read this book before but I've just recently purchased the study guide and would like to go through it again. I struggle with raising my voice at my children, especially when I'm frustrated and this book is a wonderful reminder from Scripture that that's never appropriate. I'm looking forward to the study. I'm sure my children are too!

Food Progress

2007-11-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

Yay!!!!!!!!! My youngest, Goofy Boy (GB) -- seen here with his Uncle Blake, is finally eating textured foods! At least one textured food, anyway. For those of you who do not know, our GB has given us nothing but trouble when it comes to food and health. He has had moderate to severe eczema since he was born, and I have not given up hope (or stopped praying) that he will overcome this. We've tried traditional medicine (as far as I would let it go) and alternative medicine without any success. I've just taken matters into my own hands now. After his anaphylactic reaction to yogurt, I figured that he was probably allergic to milk. (ya' think?) So I thought that there were probably other things in my diet that he was allergic to as well. (I was/am still nursing him.) So I removed all possible allergens from his diet and am observing him very closely. I finally started him on grains (millet) 2 weeks ago, but last weekend, I noticed that his eczema seemed to be flaring up slightly, so I removed the millet. He also dropped one more feeding yesterday (only 1 feeding per day now), and this morning, his eczema was much improved. Now it does go through phases and I'm not putting too much weight on this improvement, but it does give one cause to hope, doesn't it? Well, I'm still pureeing all of his food because he seems to choke/gag on any slight chunk. Today, I gave him some of the split pea soup that I made for the kids last night. I did not puree it, thinking it was mostly mush -- albeit chunky mush. He didn't choke/gag! I was very careful at first, especially with garlic chunks, onions, split pea halves, etc., but he didn't flinch! I'll be keeping you up to date regarding our Thanksgiving vacation. I have the wonderful privilege of taking all of my own pureed food with us. It will be an adventure! Please join me!

30-Day Organizational Challenge

2007-11-07T11:54:00.001-08:00

Okay, I asked my husband if he wanted me to participate in this , and he was definitely ALL for it! Needless to say, we have several areas in our home that could benefit from this. So I asked him if he would like me to reorganize the pantry, the hall closet, our closet (thinking small, mind you). No, of course not, he wants me to organize, declutter, clean and get ride of this!

Now this may not seem to be that big of a deal for many of you. But...my biggest area of organizational mindblock is paper. This desk is FULL of paper. I didn't even show inside all of the drawers. Too much information. :-) Anyways, this challenge is to be done by 11:59 p.m. on November 30. My husband would like the desk to be completely gone by then, so I guess that my plan of attack needs to include putting an ad in the classifieds and actually selling the desk. If anyone is reading this and would like a gorgeous, LARGE, banker's desk, with the old pop-up shelf for a typewriter, please comment on this post. (Not that I have a huge readership yet, but, hey, I'm optimistic!) My goal is to spend about 20 minutes a day on this project, with or without kids. I'm also trying to do several other things for about 20 minutes a day, but this needs to be moving up in the priority list. Hopefully, I'll have success, and I'll keep posting about my progress. (I know that you'll all keep refreshing your browsers now!)

On a separate note, if anyone is a political junkie, I will have a post soon (hopefully by the end of the week) on why I am supporting Ron Paul. This has actually been a process for me and, hopefully, will be of interest to others. Stay tuned!

Family Photo

2007-11-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

Finally!!!!!!!!! I have been trying, rather unsuccessfully, for hours to post our family picture in my profile. The problem seems to be that I am a Mac user. This problem will have to have its' own label in my posts. We are rather recent Mac users. When our PC crashed last winter and we lost everything, including pictures from our 3rd child's first year, we switched to a Mac. It's been great -- really. It's just that many features that are available online are much more complicated when you're using a Mac. Again, that's been good for my research skills. It's helped to sharpen them a lot. It's been very bad for my sanctification though. I've lost my patience many times at both the computer and my children who are (were) interrupting me. (They are now down for the night.) Anyways, all that to say, I now have a family picture in my profile! Now, if I can just get Blogger to stop posting Accounting as my industry....

Menu Plan Monday

2007-11-05T12:54:00.001-08:00

Alright, this is very new to me, but I feel like I'm learning a lot (during the time I'm supposed to be dusting, vacuuming, folding laundry, etc.)! I do teach one piano lesson in about 30 minutes, and I have about 1 hrs. worth of folding to do, but ... I know where to hide it! Also, my husband's working on his MBA and he has school tonight, so he won't be home. That means that we can have leftovers (clearing out some more of the fridge) and I don't have to panic about the way the house looks. At least until 10:00 pm. So...back to blogging. I will post here (and hopefully every Monday), the menu that I have planned for the week. Here goes...

TONIGHT-- leftover lentil soup, apple slices
TUESDAY-- split pea soup, salad

Actually, I won't be here Tuesday night, but my kids will. They will have a babysitter for the first time in at least 2 years. My husband and I are attending a banquet for our alma mater. My husband also grew up on campus, so this is an unusually exciting event for me. I get out of the house, sans kids, and get to fellowship with old friends for about 2-3 hours. I'm very excited! But back to menu planning, the kids will still eat healthy. We'll have to see what the babysitter's willing to eat!

WEDNESDAY -- Italian Beef Bake, broccoli, cornbread, salad
THURSDAY -- Spaghetti Squash w/spaghetti sauce, salad
FRIDAY -- Rice & beans, asparagus, salad
SATURDAY -- Turkey burgers, baked potato, kale, salad
SUNDAY -- Roast, potatoes, carrots, green veggie, salad

Well, I've finally guilted myself into folding at least a few items before my student arrives. So more from my house later!

Book Review

2007-11-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

Wow! I'm enjoying all that the blogosphere has to offer!

Well, if you're around me for any length of time, you will know that I am a book-a-haulic. I'm in no way recovering or in denial or suffering from it. I'm proud of it! My problem is that I'm usually reading so many at one time that I never finish a book in a reasonable time frame. But, guess what? This time, I did! Crystal had recommended this book, so I borrowed it from the library. For me, this is definitely a book that I want to own. The storyline is intriguing, revealing many facts that were never broadcast in the mainstream media. I did not think the writing was exceptional (although I do not claim to be an editor), but the storyline made up for any lack. For a Christian, the value of the book is in Part 3. David Gibbs asks many hard questions in this section. Questions that are truly soul-searching. He points the reader to the Scriptures for the answers and to God for the strength and ability to do what's right. I highly recommend this book!

Deliberations

2007-11-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

You may wonder about my choice of names for my blog. Deliberations? Well, first of all, the obvious -- it sounds great with my name! That's why my husband liked it. It describes me well though. Dictionary.com defines it as "careful consideration before decision". It also means to "weigh and consider well". All those definitions describe what I do when I think through issues, topics, theories, methods, etc. Although the definition that my husband probably thinks is very descriptive of me is "leisureliness of movement or action; slowness". Not that I'm slow, mind you. No, indeed. I can be very, very fast. But...when I'm thinking or considering or "deliberating" anything, I don't seem to be able to accomplish much. So, everything that I do then is slow or leisurely. Also, if you want me to make a decision or start a new project or use a new method, I must "weigh and consider it well"! That means I'm slow! There you go! It makes a great name and it's a great description. This will be my new excuse in life. I love it!

First Post

2007-11-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hello, readers! I'm finally entering the blogging world, more to sort out my own random thoughts and reflections, rather than to impact anyone else's world. I will enjoy this though and hope that others will begin to enjoy this as well. I look forward to meeting you!

Dovey's deliberations

James Sings the Presidents and Sweet Pictures with Jack

Thankful Thursday -- Little Jack

Task List

Thankful Thursday -- Jefferson

Our little daredevil

Soccer and Gymnastics

BLING!

Thankful Thursday -- Teaching Kids to Work

Thankful Thursday -- Teamwork and Learning from Nature

Homeschool Report Card: Week 1

Thankful Thursday -- child-like faith

Thankful Thursday -- Working Together

Conversation with Evelyn

Learning to be like Daddy

State Fair 2008 - 3

Thankful Thursday--Sibling Relationships

State Fair 2008 - 2

State Fair 2008

Thankful Thursday

Encouragement from a Stranger

A Little Sibling Rivalry?

Free Books Again!

Whew! What a Day!

Update on the Family

Jefferson

Kids enjoying the outdoors

Jefferson Update

Free Books!

James -- an artist?

Jefferson Update

Jefferson Update

I Cannot Keep Living Things Alive!

Evelyn's Ears Are Pierced!

Why I Homeschool

James Meets His Hero

Active military + donations = Ron Paul?

Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition -- Math

Thankfulness

Yay! Grandma's here!

Vision Forum Giveaway

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Cat's in the Cradle

Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition - Handwriting

Can we say -- Space Cadet?

Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition -- Bible

Menu-plan Monday

Ron Paul #3

Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition

Making Your Home a Haven

Menu-plan Monday

Christmas Vacation Update

World's Easiest Christmas Candy

Ron Paul #2

Ron Paul

Menu-plan Monday

Frugal Fridays: Millet for Breakfast! *important update added*

Homeschooling: Kindergarten Edition

Making Your Home a Haven

Selfishness

Menu-plan Monday

Frugal Fridays: Chicken Stock

0 -- "I'm Just a Big Nuthin"

L'Oreal Infallible lipcolor

Book Review: The Home at Greylock

Whole-grain carrot and cream cheese muffins

Self-denial for Christ's Sake

Ron Paul Series

Menu-plan Monday

Frugal Fridays: CVS & baby food

Schooling

Struggling with being a Mom

Food Progress

30-Day Organizational Challenge

Family Photo

Menu Plan Monday

Book Review

Deliberations

First Post

Frugal Fridays: Millet for Breakfast! important update added